THE  LIFE  AND  WRITINGS 
OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON 


THOMAS   JEFFERSON 


THE  LIFE  AND  WRITINGS 


OP 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON 


INCLUDING  ALL  OF  His  IMPORTANT  UTTERANCES  ON 

PUBLIC  QUESTIONS,  COMPILED  FROM  STATE 

PAPERS  AND  FROM  His  PRIVATE 

CORRESPONDENCE 


BY 
S.   E.   FORMAN 

PH.  D.  JOHNS  HOPKINS 


SECOND  EDITION 


INDIANAPOLIS 
THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT,  1900 

THE  BOWEN-MERRILL  COMPANY 

ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


PRESS  OF 

BRAUNWORTH  &  CO, 

BOOKBINDERS  AND  PRINTERS 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


F7 


PREFACE. 


THROUGHOUT  the  formative  period  of  our  national  life 
Thomas  Jefferson  stood  second  only  to  Washington  in 
power  and  influence;  after  the  death  of  Washington,  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century,  the  will  and  words  of  Jefferson  were 
supreme  in  American  politics.  After  his  death  the  spirit  of 
Jefferson  lived  on,  and  to-day  millions  of  men  regard  him  as 
the  greatest  prophet  of  government  and  expounder  of  human 
rights  that  the  world  has  produced. 

An  inquiring  mind,  doubtless,  desires  to  know  the  exact 
nature  of  the  teachings  of  one  who  has  so  profoundly  affected 
society,  desires  to  read  the  precise  words  of  his  doctrine.  But 
it  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  satisfy  this  desire.  The  doctrines  of 
Jefferson  are  scattered  through  many  costly  volumes  that 
are  to  be  found  only  in  favored  private  libraries  or  in  centers 
where  there  are  large  public  libraries.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this 
volume  to  put  the  teachings  of  Jefferson  within  the  reach  of  all. 
His  voluminous  correspondence  and  numerous  State  papers 
have  been  examined  and  wherever  a  significant  passage  or  an 
important  official  document  has  been  found  it  has  been  classified 
and  placed  in  this  collection.  Nothing  that  has  point  has  been 
omitted. 

For  the  purpose  of  making  the  writings  more  serviceable  and 
intelligible  a  Life  of  Jefferson  has  been  prepared.  In  this  bio 
graphical  sketch  the  aim  has  been  to  avoid  controversy,  abuse 
and  eulogy,  and  to  state  the  facts  in  a  fair,  non-partisan  manner. 

The  portion  of  the  Life  beginning  with  Jefferson's  career  in 
France  and  continuing  to  the  end  has  been  written  by  Dr.  W. 
A.  Montgomery,  of  Arkansas  College,  Fayetteville,  Arkansas. 

S.  E.  F. 


898 


THE  LIFE  AND  WRITINGS 
OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON 


THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


SCHOOL  AND   COLLEGE  DAYS. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON  was  born  on  the  thirteenth  day 
of  April,  1743,  at  the  homestead  of  Shadwell,  near  the 
city  of  Charlottesville,  Albemarle  County,  Virginia.  His 
father,  Peter  Jefferson,  was  a  farmer,  prosperous,  strong  in 
body,  intellectual,  and  capable  of  public  spirit.  His  mother  was 
Jane  Randolph,  a  refined  and  accomplished  daughter  of  Isham 
Randolph,  a  worthy  representative  of  the  powerful  family  whose 
name  he  bore.  Thus  from  both  father  and  mother  Jefferson 
was  fortunate  in  his  personal  inheritance:  big  bones,  well-knit 
muscles,  a  quick  understanding,  gentle  instincts,  and  high  social 
position. 

The  education  of  young  Jefferson  was  attended  by  such  happy 
circumstances  that  in  after  life  he  was  constrained  to  say  that,  if 
he  were  called  upon  to  choose  between  the  large  estate  left  him 
by  his  father  and  the  education  given  to  him,  he  would  without 
hesitation  choose  the  latter.  At  the  age  of  five  he  was  sent  to 
school  at  Tuckahoe,  a  temporary  residence  of  his  family,  where 
he  learned  the  rudiments  of  English  and  was  practiced  in 
psalms  and  in  the  prayers  and  collects  of  the  liturgy  of  the 
Episcopal  Church.  At  the  age  of  nine  he  was  placed  under  the 
care  of  the  Rev.  William  Douglas,  a  Scotchman,  from  whom 
he  learned  the  beginnings  of  Latin,  Greek,  French,  and  mathe 
matics.  With  this  master  he  remained  until  his  fourteenth  year, 
when  death  suddenly  took  away  his  father.  He  now  left  the 
school  of  the  Scotchman,  carrying  with  him  memories  of 

"mouldy  pies  and  excellent  instruction,"  and  entered  one  kept 

s 


4  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

by  the  Rev.  James  Maury,  a  Huguenot,  a  man  of  broad  and 
independent  mind,  and  a  correct  classical  scholar.  For  two 
years  he  remained  with  this  masterful  tutor,  working  hard  at 
his  books  during  school  time,  and  during  holidays  and  vaca 
tions  taking  abundant  exercise,  hunting  the  mountains  for  their 
plentiful  game  and  joining  heartily  in  all  the  sports  of  boyhood. 

In  1760,  Jefferson  of  his  own  will  and  desire,  began  his 
studies  at  the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  situated  at  Wil- 
liamsburg,  the  capital  of  the  colonial  government  of  Virginia. 
Williamsburg  was  an  unpaved,  hap-hazard  village  of  about  a 
tho>usand  inhabitants.  Small  as  the  little  capital  may  appear  to 
us  by  comparison,  it  was  nevertheless  the  center  of  much  social 
and  civic  activity.  While  the  legislature  and  Great  Court  were 
in  session,  prominent  personages  from  all  parts  of  the  colony 
resided  there  with  their  families,  and  the  winter  season  was 
passed  in  a  round  of  pleasures  and  imposing  functions.  By 
reason  of  his  connection  with  the  Randolphs,  Jefferson  had  easy 
access  to  the  aristocratic  set.  Without  the  Randolphs  he  would 
probably  have  been  long  excluded  from  the  fashionable  circle, 
for  he  was  a  great,  raw-boned,  freckled-face,  sandy-haired  boy, 
awkward  and  shy.  While  he  did  not  disdain  the  amusements 
of  society,  he  did  not  forget  the  purpose  for  which  he  was 
spending  his  time  and  money  in  Williamsburg. 

William  and  Mary  was  a  poor  specimen  of  a  college  in  those 
days.  It  was  poorly  governed  and  poorly  equipped,  and  its 
teachers  were  all  that  teachers  should  not  be.  There  was  one 
exception  to  this  indictment.  "It  was  my  great  good  fortune," 
said  Jefferson  in  speaking  of  his  college  clays,  "and  what  prob 
ably  fixed  the  destinies  of  my  life,  that  Dr.  William  Small  of 
Scotland  was  then  professor  of  mathematics,  a  man  profound 
in  most  of  the  useful  branches  of  science,  writh  a  happy  talent  of 
communication,  correct  and  gentlemanly  manners,  and  an  en 
larged  and  liberal  mind.  He,  most  happily  for  me,  became 
soon  attached  to  me  and  made  me  his  daily  companion,  when 
not  engaged  in  the  school;  and  from  his  conversation  I  got 
my  first  views  of  the  expansion  of  science  and  of  the  system 
of  things  in  which  we  are  placed."  Dr.  Small  was  a  skeptic  as 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  5 

well  as  a  mathematician,  and  it  was  from  him  that  Jefferson 
learned  his  first  lessons  in  agnosticism.* 

By  the  professor  the  student  was  introduced  to  Francis 
Fauquier,  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Virginia — the  ablest  man, 
in  Jefferson's  opinion,  that  ever  held  that  position.  Fauquier 
was  a  man  of  the  world,  an  imitator  of  the  manners  and  a 
disciple  of  the  philosophy  of  Chesterfield,  a  liberal  host,  and  a 
thorough-going  sportsman,  both  on  the  turf  and  at  the  table. 
Jefferson  spent  much  time  in  the  company  of  the  governor,  and 
learned  many  things  that  were  to  be  avoided  and  much  that 
was  to  be  imitated.  A  third  associate  was  George  Wythe,  a 
high-principled,  scholarly  lawyer,  who*  has  the  honor  of  having 
been  the  law  preceptor  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Marshall  and 
Henry  Clay.  These  four — Dr.  Small,  Governor  Fauquier, 
George  Wythe,  and  "Tom"  Jefferson — were  the  acknowledged 
intellectual  leaders  of  Williamsburg;  and  who  shall  say  that 
such  a  coterie  was  not  a  university  in  itself?  It  proved  to  be  a 
university  to  Jefferson.  From  Fauquier  he  learned  manners, 
from  Wythe  the  meaning  of  scholarship,  and  from  Dr.  Small  the 
habit  of  thinking  for  himself.  His  mind  thus  awakened  never 
relapsed  into  provincial  slumber.  The  attainments  of  his 
friends  stimulated  him  to  an  industry  that  knew  no  bounds,  rfa 
sometimes  studied  fifteen  hours  a  day. 

After  two  years  of  this  sweet  and  wholesome  intimacy,  the 
circle  was  broken.  Dr.  Small  returned  to  Great  Britain,  there 
to  become  famous.  The  heart  of  the  college  was  now  gone,  and 
Jefferson  left  it  to  return  to  his  home  at  Shadwell.  He  took 
with  him  a  sound  knowledge  of  French,  Greek,  Latin,  and  the 
higher  mathematics,  good  health,  and  an  open,  inquisitive  mind. 
Better  than  all,  he  took  away  with  him  good  habits.  He  had 
refused  to  join  in  the  governor's  gaming,  he  had  not  partaken 
of  his  wine,  and  he  had  not  learned  to  use  tobacco,  f  He  left 
college  morally  sound. 

There  was  one  thing  the  youth  of  seventeen  had  brought  to 
Williamsburg  that  the  youth  of  nineteen  did  not  take  away 


*See  Religion,  page  357;  Christianity,  page  152;  Jesus,  page  270. 
tSee  Habits  of  Jefferson,  page  237. 


6  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

with  him:  that  was  his  heart.  Amid  the  social  pleasures  of  the 
capital,  he  had  looked  long  and  fondly  into  the  eyes  of  Rebecca 
Bunvell,  an  heiress  and  a  flamboyant  and  cruel  beauty.  Now 
that  he  was  separated  from  her,  he  found  that  the  image  of  the 
girl  had  burned  itself  into  his  soul,  and  that  his  peace  of  mind 
was  gone.  Upon  leaving  college  he  had  made  arrangements  to 
read  law  under  the  direction  of  his  friend  Wythe,  and  had  taken 
home  his  Coke  and  Littleton.  "But  to  the  devil  with  Coke; 
Coke  is  an  old  scoundrel,"  wrote  the  miserable  youth  to  his 
friend  Page.  After  the  manner  of  young  men  in  love  for  the 
first  time,  he  bitterly  bemoaned  his  fate.  Numerous  letters  in 
which  he  describes  his  wretched  condition  have  been  preserved. 
"Inclination  tells  me  to*  go,"  he  writes  to  Page,  "receive  my 
sentence  and  be  no  longer  in  suspense;  but  reason  says  if  you  go 
and  your  attempt  proves  unsuccessful,  you  will  be  ten  times 
more  wretched  than  ever.  If  Belinda  (a  love-name  for  Rebecca) 
will  not  accept  of  my  service,  it  shall  never  be  offered  to 
another."  To  be  sure  not!  But  the  asseveration  does  credit  to 
his  heart. 

Sometimes  he  is  more  hopeful,  as  when  he  writes  to  his  friend 
Fleming:  "I  have  thought  of  the  cleverest  plan  of  life  that  can 
be  imagined.  You  exchange  lands  for  Edgehill,  or  I  mine  for 
Fairfields;  you  marry  Sukey  Potter,  I  marry  Rebecca  Bunvell, 
join  and  get  a  pole-chair  and  a  pair  of  keen  horses,  and  drive 
about  to  all  the  dances  in  the  country  together.  How  do  you 
like  it?"  A  fine  program,  but  in  a  few  short  months  he  wrote 
to  Fleming  again:  "With  reg'ard  to  the  scheme  I  proposed  to 
you  sometime  since,  I  am  so-rry  to  tell  you  it  is  totally  frus 
trated  by  Miss  Rebecca  BurweH's  marriage  with  Jacquelin 
Ambler." 

The  young  man  drowned  his  disappointment  in  dull  old 
Coke.  He  read  deeply  of  the  law,  following  its  history  back 
beyond  Coke,  beyond  Littleton,  beyond  Bracton,  even  to  its 
Anglo-Saxon  origins.  Abstracts  from  Jefferson's  note-book, 
kept  while  he  was  a  student  of  the  law,  have  come  down  to  us, 
and  these  show  that  he  had  the  instincts  of  a  scholar,  patient, 
accurate  and  fearless  in  his  investigations.  For  four  years  he 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  7 

pursued  his  law  studies,  spending  his  winters  in  Williamsburg 
and  his  summers  on  his  estate  of  Shadwell.  Once  he  left  his 
books  to  take  a  journey  and  get  a  glimpse  of  the  outside  world. 
In  a  one-horse  chaise  he  traveled  north  as  far  as  New  York, 
passing  through  Annapolis  and  Philadelphia.  At  the  latter 
place,  in  obedience  to  his  penchant  for  science,  he  had  himself 
inoculated  for  small-pox.  In  New  York  he  made  the  acquaint 
ance  of  Elbridge  Gerry,  a  young  man  whose  ideals  and  aims 
were  similar  to  his  own.  The  young  men  conceived  a  deep 
regard  for  each  other  and  for  many  years  were  political  allies, 
Gerry  being  the  most  powerful  supporter  of  Jefferson  in  New 
England.  Soon  after  his  return  from  this  trip,  Jefferson  was 
admitted  to  the  practice  of  the  laNv  at  the  bar  of  the  General 
Court  of  Virginia.  He  was  now  in  his  twenty-fourth  year. 

JEFFERSON    AS   A    FARMER   AND    LAWYER. 

The  civilization  of  Virginia  in  the  eighteenth  century  was 
uniformly  and  universally  rural.  When  Jefferson  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  entered  Williamsburg,  he  had  never  in  his  life  seen 
a  collection  of  houses  numbering  as  many  as  a  dozen.  There 
were  no  large  towns,  no  manufacturing  industries,  no  inter- 
county  or  inter-colonial  commerce.  Farming  was  the  one 
occupation  of  the  people,  and  tobacco*  the  one  product  of  the 
farm.  Tobacco,  as  has  been  pithily  said,  was  king.  The  farms 
' — large  tracts  of  land  consisting  sometimes  of  thousands  of 
acres — were  tilled  by  slaves.  Slavery  and  tobacco  formed  the 
basis  of  society.  Jefferson  was  a  farmer,  owned  slaves,  and 
impoverished  his  land  by  the  cultivation  of  tobacco.  He 
esteemed  farmers  as  God's  chosen  people  and  he  never  ceased 
to  praise  agriculture*  as  the  only  moral  and  ennobling  vocation. 
As  the  oldest  son  of  Peter  Jefferson  he  inherited,  besides  a 
number  of  slaves,  the  homestead,  Shadwell — an  estate  of  nine 
teen  hundred  acres  of  the  finest  land  in  Virginia,  situated  on 
the  Rivanna,  a  tributary  of  the  James.  When  the  young  man 
took  possession  of  his  lands  the  Rivanna  was  unnavigable  for 


*See  Agriculture,  page  135. 


8  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

boats  of  any  kind,  but  it  was  not  long  before  he  had  its  channels 
deepened  and  the  stream  rendered  useful  to  himself  and  his 
neighbors — a  servicef  which  he  deemed  worthy  of  being  ranked 
among  the  greatest  of  his  life.  The  management  of  the  planta 
tion  was  assumed  by  Jefferson,  who  throughout  his  life  was 
what  we  should  call,  in  these  days,  a  scientific  farmer.  His 
"garden-book,"  a  monument  o<f  detail  and  patience,  shows  that 
he  was  deeply  interested  in  the  processes  of  nature,  and  that  he 
brought  to  bear  the  keenest  observation  and  the  most  careful 
reflection  upon  numberless  experiments  in  garden,  orchard,  and 
field.  His  avowed  ambition  was  to  make  two  blades  of  grass 
grow  where  one  had  grown  before.  Although  much  given  to 
theory,  he  was  sufficiently  practical  to  make  his  farm  pay.  For 
many  years  it  yielded  him.  an  annual  income  of  two*  thousand 
dollars,  which,  combined  with  an  income  of  three  thousand 
dollars  made  by  the  practice  of  the  law,  enabled  him  by  the  year 
1774  to  increase  the  number  of  his  acres  from  nineteen  hundred 
to  five  thousand  and  the  number  of  his  slaves  from  thirty  to 
fifty-four.  It  is  but  just  to  say,  however,  that  no  slaves  were 
ever  bought  as  an  investment.  We  shall  see  that  Jefferson  was 
quite  incapable  of  engaging  in  such  a  traffic. 

As  a  lawyer  Jefferson  was  successful  from  the  beginning.  He 
was  no  orator;  he  was  not  even  an  agreeable  public  speaker. 
When  elevated,  his  voice  grew  husky  and  indistinct.  Yet  in 
other  respects  he  was  admirably  qualified  for  the  bar.  His  talent 
for  investigation  enabled  him  to  bring  his  cases  into  court  thor 
oughly  prepared,  and  a  faculty  for  summarizing  a  case,  however 
complex  or  vast,  in  a  few  short  sentences,  made  it  possible  for 
him  to  dispense  with,  the  tricks  of  the  fluent  advocate.  During 
the  first  year  of  his  practice  he  had  sixty  cases  before  the  Gen 
eral  Court  of  Virginia.  The  second  year  brought  him  one  hun 
dred  and  fifteen  cases.  Among  his  clients  were  the  Elands, 
Burwells,  Carters,  Harrisons,  Randolphs,  Lees,  Nelsons,  Pages. 
He  continued  in  a  lucrative  practice  until  1774,  when  the  duties 
of  public  office  practically  ended  his  career  as  an  attorney. 


tSee  Services  of  Jefferson,  page  381. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  9 

Jefferson  began  his  public  life  as  a  vestryman  of  the  parish 
church  and  justice  of  the  county  court,  offices  which  his  father 
before  him  had  filled.  In  1769  he  presented  himself  to  the 
voters  of  Albemarle  County  as  candidate  for  the  House  of  Bur 
gesses,  an  office  which  had  also  been  held  by  his  father.  In 
accordance  with  the  democratic  custom  of  the  time,  the  candi 
date  went  from  voter  to  voter  and  made  personal  solicitations. 
He  was  elected  as  a  matter  of  course.  Indeed,  he  may  be  said 
to  have  inherited  the  seat  of  his  father. 

It  was  a  critical  and  troublous  period  when  he  took  his  seat. 
Throughout  the  colonies  there  was  a  growing  distrust  of  George 
III.  and  Parliament.  Virginia  imagined  herself  loyal,  but  out 
ward  forms  apart,  she  was  drifting  with  the  general  tide  away 
from  the  home  government.  The  great  proprietors,  the  royal 
officers,  and  the  clergy,  partly  through  interest,  partly  through 
affection,  were  unshaken  in  their  fidelity  to  the  old  order  of 
things;  but  there  were  appearing  upon  the  scene  leaders  who, 
like  Otis  and  Adams  in  the  north,  were  determined  to  resist  to 
the  last  the  encroachments  of  the  crown.  Jefferson  fell  in  with 
those  threatening  revolution  as  naturally  as  a  duck  takes  to 
water.  He  liked  rebellion  for  its  own  sake.  It  cleared  up  the 
political  atmosphere,  he  thought;  a  country  without  a  rebel 
lion,*  say  every  century,  he  regarded  as  being  in  a  dangerous 
way.  Among  his  colleagues  in  the  legislature  were  George 
Washington  and  Patrick  Henry.  These  three  men  conducted 
the  Revolution  in  Virginia.  Washington  was  its  sword,  Henry 
its  tongue,  and  Jefferson  its  pen.  At  the  opening  of  the  first 
session  the  member  from  Albemarle  drafted  a  reply  to  the 
Governor's  address,  but  his  effort  was  rejected  as  being  deficient 
in  both  style  and  contents.  The  young  man  was  doubtless 
mortified,  but  his  propensity  to  draw  up  addresses,  constitu 
tions,  etc.,  was  deeply  rooted,  and  we  shall  find  him  trying  his 
hand  again  upon  the  first  and  all  succeeding  occasions. 

On  the  Thursday  after  the  opening  of  the  session  the  House 
passed  resolutions  which,  after  denying  the  right  of  taxation 


*See  Rebellion,  page  354- 


10  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

without  representation,  and  the  right  of  trying  accused  Ameri 
cans  in  English  courts,  declared  the  right  of  the  colonies  to 
concur  and  co-operate  in  seeking  redress  of  .grievances.  On 
account  of  those  resolutions  Lord  Botetourt,  the  royal  Gov 
ernor,  promptly  dissolved  the  Burgesses,  who,  as  private  citi 
zens,  immediately  met  in  the  Apollo  room  of  the  famous  Raleigh 
Tavern  and,  following  the  example  of  Massachusetts,  pledged 
themselves  to  refrain  from  trade  with  England  until  such  time 
as  she  should  show  a  disposition  to  treat  the  colonies  justly. 
When  in  a  few  months  word  was  brought  that  the  English 
government  had  relented,  and  that  at  the  next  session  of  Par 
liament  a  proposition  would  be  made  to  remove  the  obnoxious 
duties,  the  governor  reassembled  the  Burgesses  in  the  hope  that 
the  trouble  would  be  tided  over.  At  this  session,  advancing 
about  a  century  ahead  of  his  time,  Jefferson  introduced  a  bill 
making  it  lawful  for  a  master  to  emancipate  his  slaves.  The 
prompt  and  emphatic  rejection  of  the  bill  caused  him  to  lose 
hope  of  the  speedy  settlement  of  the  slavery  question  in  Vir 
ginia,  but  it  did  not  shake  his  belief  in  the  justice  of  the  cause. 

In  1770  Jefferson's  home  at  Shadwell  was  destroyed  by  fire, 
and  with  it  his  furniture,  books  and  law-papers.  Only  a  highly 
prized  violin  was  rescued  from,  the  flames.  About  two  miles 
from  the  Shadwell  house  was  a  hill  named  by  Jefferson,  Monti- 
cello*  (little  mount).  This  eminence  commands  a  view  of  sur 
passing  beauty,  and  was  chosen  by  Jefferson  as  the  site  of  a 
mansion  that  should  embody  his  ideas  of  architecture — an  art 
upon  which  he  expended  much  thought,  and  in  which  he  was 
more  than  an  amateur.  After  the  fire  the  building  of  a  new 
house  upon  the  "little  mount"  was  pushed  rapidly,  and  in  some 
thing'  more  than  a  year  a  section  was  ready  for  occupancy. 

In  1772  Jefferson  married  and  brought  to  his  new  mansion 
Martha  Skelton,  a  childless  widow  of  twenty-two,  the  daughter 
of  John  Wayles,  a  wealthy  lawyer  of  Williamsburg.  A  story  of 
the  wooing  is  told  by  Randall,  Jefferson's  most  faithful  biog 
rapher.  The  widow  Skelton,  it  seems,  had  many  suitors.  "Upon 


*See  Monticello,  page  311. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  II 

one  occasion  two  of  her  admirers  called  and  were  shown  into 
a  room  from  which  they  heard  her  harpsichord  and  voice, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Jefferson's  violin  and  voice  in  the  pas 
sages  of  a  touching  song.  Whether  something  in  the  words 
or  in  the  tone  of  the  singers  offered  suggestion  to  them,  tradi 
tion  does  not  say,  but  it  does  aver  that  they  took  their  hats 
and  retired  to  return  no  more  on  the  same  errand."  Jefferson 
was  happy  in  his  marriage.  His  wife  was  a  woman  distinguished 
by  charms  of  mind  and  person,  and  she  received  from  her  hus 
band  an  affection  that  was  deep  and  imperishable. 

GETTING  UNDER  WAY  AS  A  STATESMAN. 

The  Convention  that  assembled  in  Williamsburg  in  August, 
1774,  in  response  to  the  call  of  the  coterie  of  patriots  that  had  in 
May  met  at  the  Raleigh  Tavern  was  the  first  extra-legal  repre 
sentative  body  that  met  in  Virginia.  Among  its  members  were 
Peyton  Randolph,  Patrick  Henry,  Benjamin  Harrison  and  the 
Lees.  Jefferson  was  chosen  to  represent  Albemarle  County,  but 
on  his  way  to  Williamsburg  he  was  taken  ill  and  was  prevented 
from  attending.  His  influence  in  the  Convention,  however,  was 
exerted  through  a  document  which  he  had  prepared  and  placed 
in  the  hands  of  Randolph  and  Henry.  This  was  the  celebrated 
"Summary  View  of  the  Rights  of  British  America" — a  com 
position  intended  to  form  the  basis  of  instructions  to  the  dele 
gates  from  Virginia  in  the  Continental  Congress.  The  manu 
script  was  inspected  by  the  members  of  the  Convention,  and  was- 
found  to  contain  so  much  that  was  vigorous  and  convincing  that 
it  was  printed  at  Williamsburg  at  private  expense,  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  author  and  without  his  name  appearing.  It 
was  quickly  reprinted  in  Philadelphia  and  also  in  London.  The 
"Summary  View"  was  probably  the  most  important  political 
pamphlet  published  at  the  South  in  the  early  days  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  It  was  Jefferson's  aim  to  "set  a  pace  that  would  bring  the 
front  and  rear  ranks  of  his  fellow  countrymen  together."  These 
"Instructions"  show  that  his  pace  was  a  pretty  rapid  one,  for 
they  breathe  the  spirit  of  independence  in  every  paragraph. 


12  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

Indeed,  it  was  the  odd  fortune  of  the  writer  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  to  be  accused  in  later  years  of  having  pilfered 
many  of  his  ideas  from  the  "Summary  View." 

Jefferson's  views  were  too  radical  for  the  official  approbation 
of  the  Convention,  but  he  seems  not  to  have  been  in  advance  of 
the  public  opinion  of  his  constituency,  for  upon  the  occasion  of 
his  double  election  to*  the  Convention  and  to  the  House  of 
Burgesses  in  July,  1774,  he  drew  up  and  caused  to  be  adopted 
by  the  freeholders  of  Albemarle  County  a  set  of  resolutions  in 
which  the  right  of  self-government  among  the  colonies  without 
the  intervention  of  Parliament  was  strictly  asserted.  Other  coun 
ties  passed  spirited  resolutions,  but  none  were  so<  spirited  and 
revolutionary  as  these.  The  same  citizens  of  Albemarle,  after 
they  had  adopted  the  resolutions  drawn  up  by  their  leader, 
armed  themselves  and  threatened  Lord  Dunmore  with  punish 
ment  for  stealing  the  powder  of  the  colonists  from  the  magazine 
in  Williamsburg.  Jefferson  was  doubtless  behind  this  uprising, 
for  he  was  the  most  prominent  member  of  the  Committee  of 
Safety  in  his  county. 

In  March,  1775,  the  Virginia  Convention  met  at  Richmond 
in  the  parish  church  of  St.  John,  Jefferson  in  attendance.  The 
eloquence  of  Patrick  Henry  hurried  the  willing  body  into  revo 
lution.  He  moved  that  the  Colony  "be  immediately  put  into  a 
state  of  defense,"  and  in  support  of  his  motion  delivered  a  speech 
that  set  on  fire  the  souls  of  his  hearers  and  still  thrills  the  hearts 
of  American  school  boys.  Henry's  motion  was  carried,  and  a 
committee  consisting  of  himself,  R.  H.  Lee,  R.  C.  Nicholas, 
Benjamin  Harrison,  George  Washington,  Edmund  Pendleton 
and  Thomas  Jefferson  was  appointed  to  devise  a  plan  for  putting 
the  colony  upon  a  military  basis.  Before  the  Convention  ad 
journed  it  selected  Jefferson  to  represent  the  colony  in  the 
Continental  Congress  in  the  place  of  Peyton  Randolph,  pro 
viding  the  latter  should  be  recalled  to  preside  over  the  House 
of  Burgesses.  In  June,  1775,  Randolph  was  recalled,  and 
Jefferson  became  a  member  of  Congress.  Before  he  took  leave 
of  the  colonial  legislature,  however,  he  prepared  a  reply  to  Lord 
North's  "Conciliatory  Proposition,"  which  had  been  referred 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  13 

to  the  Burgesses  by  the  Governor  for  their  consideration.  It 
was  understood  throughout  the  colonies  that  Virginia  was  to 
make  the  first  answer  to  the  ministry's  proposition  for  peace, 
and  Jefferson  was  anxious  that  she  should  set  for  the  other 
colonies  an  example  of  firmness  and  courage.  The  reply,  passed 
by  a  vote  "approaching  unanimity,"  shows  that  the  colony  was 
rebellious  and  bent  upon  war,  despite  its  protestations  of  loyalty 
and  its  oft-expressed  desire  for  peace.  Patrick  Henry  had 
uttered  the  real  sentiment  of  his  countrymen  when  he  said: 
"The  God  of  Hosts  is  all  that  is  left  us.  Gentlemen  may  cry- 
peace,  peace,  but  there  is  no  peace." 

It  was  in  a  spirit  of  war  and  rebellion  that  Jefferson  drew  up 
a  reply  to*  the  "Conciliatory  Proposition,"  and  it  was  in  this 
spirit  that  he  went  to  Philadelphia  in  June,  1775,  to  take  his 
seat  as  a  delegate  to  Congress.  He  was  now  thirty-two  years  of 
age;  only  two  members  of  Congress  were  younger.  He  had 
developed  into  an  all-round  man  of  the  world.  He  could  "cal 
culate  an  eclipse,  survey  an  estate,  tie  an  artery,  plan  an  edifice, 
try  a  cause,  break  a  horse,  dance  a  minuet,  and  play  the  violin." 
His  fame  had  preceded  him  in  Congress.  "Mr.  Jefferson/' 
wrote  John  Adams  in  1822,  "came  to  Congress  in  June,  1775, 
and  brought  with  him  a  reputation  for  literature,  science,  and 
a  happy  talent  for  composition.  Writings  of  his  were  handed 
about,  remarkable  for  the  peculiar  felicity  of  expression."  His 
pen  was  soon  called  into  requisition.  Congress,  feeling  obliged 
to  give  the  world  reasons  for  the  rebellious  scenes  of  Lexington 
and  Bunker  Hill,  appointed  a  committee  to  draw  up  a  declara 
tion  of  causes  for  taking  up  arms.  The  report  of  this  com 
mittee  proving  unsatisfactory,  Congress  recommitted  it  and 
added  Jefferson  and  John  Dickinson  to  the  committee.  Jeffer 
son  drew  up  a  declaration  that  was  too  strong  for  the  conserva 
tives.  Especially  was  the  language  of  the  young  Virginian  too 
strong  for  John  Dickinson,  who  had  great  influence  in  Congress 
and  still  cherished  hopes  of  reconciliation.  Jefferson,  seeing 
there  was  no  chance  for  the  adoption  of  his  own  draft  against 
the  opposition  of  Dickinson,  gave  way.  Dickinson  then  pre 
pared  a  statement  more  agreeable  to  the  less  radical,  although 


I4  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

not  less  patriotic,  wing  of  Congress.  The  concluding  para 
graphs  of  Dickinson's  draft,  however,  are  substantially  copied 
from  Jefferson.  One  passage  from  Jefferson's  portion  of  the 
address  is  often  quoted  by  historians  on  account  of  the  ominous 
import  of  one  of  its  words.  "We  mean  not  to  dissolve  that 
union  which  has  so  long  and  so  happily  subsisted  between  us, 
and  which  we  sincerely  wish  to  see  restored.  Necessity  has  not 
yet  driven  us  into*  that  desperate  measure." 

In  July,  1775,  Congress,  by  ballot,  chose  Benjamin  Franklin, 
Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Adams  and  R.  H.  Lee  as  a  committee 
to  report  on  Lord  North's  "Conciliatory  Proposition."  Jeffer 
son  had  already  drawn  Virginia's  answer  to  the  overture,  and 
his  colleagues  on  the  committee  requested  him  to  .draft  the  reply 
of  Congress  also.  This  he  did  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  com 
mittee,  and  his  report  with  slight  emendations  was  promptly 
adopted  by  Congress.  In  this  reply  of  Congress  he  necessarily 
followed  quite  closely  the  form  of  reply  drawn  up  by  himself 
for  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia.  The  tone  of  the  docu 
ment  was  sullen  and  defiant.  It  held  firmly  to  a  denial  of 
Parliament's  right  to  "intermeddle  with  our  provisions  for  the 
support  of  civil  government.  *  *  *  But  while  Parliament 
pursues  its  plan  of  civil  government  within  its  own  jurisdic 
tion,  we  hope  also  to  pursue  our  own  without  molestation." 
In  a  few  weeks  hard  work  and  an  aggressive  and  fearless  nature 
had  brought  Jefferson  to  the  front  in  Congress.  "He  was  so 
prompt,  frank,  explicit,  and  decisive  upon  committees  and  in 
Convention,"  said  John  Adams,  "that  he  soon  seized  upon  my 
heart." 

Congress  adjourned  in  August,  1775,  and  Jefferson  returned 
to  Richmond  to  take  his  seat  as  the  representative  of  Albemarle 
in  the  Virginia  Convention.  Immediately  he  was  elected  to 
represent  the  colony  in  the  next  Congress.  The  election  was 
by  ballot,  with  the  following  result:  Peyton  Randolph  89 
votes,  R.  H.  Lee  88,  Thomas  Jefferson  85,  Benjamin  Harrison 
83,  Thomas  Nelson  66,  Richard  Bland  61,  George  Wythe  58. 
A  question  came  before  the  Convention  at  this  time  that  had  for 
Jefferson  a  most  abiding  interest.  It  was  a  question  of  religious 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  15 

liberty — a  thing  as  yet  unheard  of  in  Virginia.  A  petition  was 
presented  by  the  Baptists  asking  that  Baptist  ministers  be 
allowed  to  preach  to  Baptist  soldiers.  The  Convention  passed 
a  resolution  granting  their  request.  Jefferson's  vote  for  the 
resolution  was  his  first  act  in  a  movement  directed  by  himself 
which  led  to  the  disestablishment  of  the  church  in  Virginia,  and 
to  a  general  separation  of  Church  and  State  in  America. 

After  a  few1  days'  attendance  upon  the  Convention,  Jefferson 
sought  his  beloved  Monticello,  the  scene  of  so  much  joy  and 
sorrow  in  his  life.  This  time  sorrow  darkened  his  stay.  His 
second  child,  Jane,  died  in  September.  A  letter  written  by  him 
about  this  time  to  John  Randolph,  a  kinsman  whose  interests 
had  caused  him  to  leave  America  at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities 
and  take  up  his  residence  in  England,  reflects  in  clear  light 
Jefferson's  views  upon  the  troublous  questions  of  the  hour.  "I 
would  rather  be  in  dependence  on  Great  Britain,  properly  lim 
ited,  "  he  writes  in  this  letter,  "than  on  any  nation  on  earth,  or 
than  on  no  nation.  But  I  am  one  of  those,  too,  who  rather  than 
submit  to  the  rights  of  legislating  for  us  assumed  by  the  British 
Parliament,  would  lend  my  hand  to  sink  the  whole  island." 
This  could  mean  but  one  thing — separation. 

THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 


Jefferson  returned  to  Philadelphia  in  September  to  find  that 
the  temper  of  Congress  accorded  with  his  own.  The  king  had 
spurned  the  petition  of  the  Americans,  had  not  deigned  even  to 
listen  to  it,  and  was  making  active  military  preparations  for  the 
coercion  of  the  colonists.  The  Americans,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  taxing  all  their  resources  in  their  preparation  for  resist 
ance.  Philadelphia,  where  the  companies  were  drilling  twice 
a  day,  was  more  like  a  camp  than  a  peaceful  Quaker  town. 
News  came  from  the  North  that  Boston  was  evacuated  and 
Ticonderoga  captured ;  from  the  South,  that  Norfolk,  the  largest 
city  of  Virginia,  was  burned  by  the  British.  Congress  sat  with 
closed  doors  but  its  members  were  not  deaf  to  the  alarming  state 


16  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

of  affairs  without.  They  saw  it  was  only  left  to  them  to  declare 
a  war  that  public  sentiment  had  already  declared.  Necessity 
demanded  an  ally,  and  wistful  eyes  were  cast  towards  England's 
historic  foe.  An  agent  of  France  was  in  Philadelphia  charged 
with  the  mission  of  offering  the  good  services  of  his  government 
to  the  colonies.  Congress  deputed  Jay,  Franklin  and  Jefferson 
as  a  committee  to  confer  with  the  envoy.  The  conference  was 
successful,  and  was  the  first  in  a  chain  of  events  that  led  to  the 
French  alliance  and  to  Jefferson's  diplomatic  career  in  France. 

Jefferson  remained  in  Congress  for  three  months  serving  on 
numerous  committees  and  taking  an  active  part  in  all  proceed 
ings.  In  December  he  left  Philadelphia  for  Monticello.  During 
this  absence  from  Congress  Jefferson's  mother  died,  and  it  is 
generally  thought  that  it  was  her  illness  that  called  him  away 
from  his  post  of  duty.  In  May,  1776,  he  returned  to  Philadel 
phia  and  entered  energetically  into  the  work  of  Congress.  He 
found  all  things  tending  to  revolution.  On  the  day  of  his  return 
Congress  passed  resolutions  advising  the  colonies  to  form  gov 
ernments  for  themselves;  five  days  after  his  return  news  came 
that  the  Virginia  Convention  had  passed  a  resolution  instruct 
ing  its  delegates  in  Congress  to  support  a  motion  declaring  the 
"United  Colonies  free  and  independent  States,  absolved  from  all 
allegiance  or  dependence  upon  the  Crown  or  Parliament  of 
Great  Britain."  This  resolution  was  reported  by  Archibald 
Cary,  a  kinsman  of  Jefferson  and  the  man  who  reported  for  him 
the  reply  to  the  "Conciliatory  Proposition"  of  Lord  North. 
This  circumstance,  and  the  additional  fact  that  Jefferson  was 
in  Virginia,  and  probably  at  the  capital  at  the  time  of  the  pas 
sage  of  the  resolution,  have  been  used  as  the  basis  of  a  con 
jecture  that  he  had  a  hand  in  the  drafting  and  passing  of  this 
most  important  act  of  the  Convention.  If  it  should  ever  be 
proved  that  Jefferson  was  the  author  of  that  resolution,  there 
will  be  no  occasion  for  surprise,  for  it  was  his  custom  never  to 
appear  himself  in  a  legislative  measure  when  he  could  get  some 
one  else  to  appear  for  him. 

Congress  promptly  took  up  the  question  presented  to  it  by 
the  Virginia  resolution.  On  June  7th  R.  H.  Lee  moved  that 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  17 

the  colonies  be  declared  independent.  The  debate  on  the  motion 
continued  for  two  days;  it  was  then  deemed  wise  to  postpone 
action  for  twenty  days.  The  reason  given  by  Jefferson  for  the 
delay  was  that  "the  colonies  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Mary 
land  and  South  Carolina  were  not  yet  mature  for  falling-  from 
the  parent  stem,  but  that  they  were  fast  advancing  to  that  state." 
Delay,  it  was.  thought,  would  give  public  opinion  in  these  luke 
warm  colonies  time  to*  crystallize  in  favor  of  independence.  The 
form  of  the  declaration  was  deemed  highly  important,  and  in 
order  that  there  might  be  no  haste,  Congress  at  once  (June  loth) 
appointed  a  committee  consisting  of  Jefferson,  John  Adams, 
Benjamin  Franklin,  Roger  Sherman,  and  Robert  R.  Livingston 
to  draft  the  instrument.  Upon  Jefferson  devolved  the  agreeable 
task  of  writing  the  declaration.  He  had  three  weeks  to  spend 
upon  it,  and  it  appears  that  he  bestowed  upon  its  composition 
the  greatest  pains.  While  he  \vas  thus  engaged  his  name  came 
up  before  the  Virginia  Convention  for  re-election,  and  he  barely 
escaped  defeat,  being  next  to  the  lowest  upon  the  list  of  success 
ful  delegates.  On  the  28th  of  June  he  brought  the  Declaration 
before  Congress.  He  had  previously  submitted  it  to  the  com 
mittee,  who  adopted  it  after  two  or  three  slight  alterations  had 
been  made  by  John  Adams  and  one  or  two  by  Franklin.  It 
was  read  and  laid  on  the  table.  On  the  first  of  July  the  original 
motion  of  the  Virginia  delegation  for  independence  was  carried 
by  the  vote  of  nine  colonies.  New  York  and  Pennsylvania 
were  against  independence  on  this  vote;  Delaware  was  divided, 
and  South  Carolina  \vanted  time.  Time  was  granted,  and  \vhen 
the  question  was  put  to  a  vote  on  the  next  day,  South  Carolina, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware  threw  their  votes  for  independence. 
New  York  did  not  consent  until  July  Qth.  Having  resolved 
upon  independence  Congress  at  once  took  up  Jefferson's  form 
of  declaration.* 

The  document  was  roughly  handled,  the  criticism  sometimes 
being  so  acrimonious  as  to  cause  Jefferson  to  wince.  During 
the  overhauling  some  of  Jefferson's  fine  phrases  were  expunged; 


*See  Independence,  Declaration  of,  page  257. 


18  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

which  was,  of  course,  a  good  thing.  At  the  same  time,  some  of 
his  finest  sentiments  were  expunged;  which,  perhaps,  was  not 
so  fortunate.  Jefferson  hated  slavery,  and  he  had  inserted  in 
the  declaration  a  round  denunciation  of  George  III.  for  his  part 
in  the  encouragement  of  the  slave  trade.  Congress  regarded 
this  in  bad  taste,  inasmuch  as  the  colonies,  north  and  south, 
profited  by  their  participation  in  that  trade.  So,  through  shame, 
the  noblest  paragraph  in  the  declaration  was  omitted.  In  the 
original  draft  was  an  expression  of  hatred  for  the  English,  whose 
inhuman  act  of  securing  mercenaries  of  other  countries  to  send 
against  their  American  brethren  "gave  the  last  stab  to  agoniz 
ing  affection,  and  manly  spirit  bids  us  to  renounce  forever  these 
unfeeling  brethren.  We  must  endeavor  to  forget  our  former 
love  for  them,  and  hold  them  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind, 
enemies  in  war,  in  peace  friends."  This  was  expunged  as  being 
uncalled  for.  Congress  made  several  interpolations,  but  did  not 
in  this  way  materially  alter  the  document.  It  is  generally  con 
ceded  that  the  few  changes  made  by  Congress,  both  those  of 
addition  and  omission,  improved  the  Declaration. 

The  debate  continued  for  three  days,  with  the  prospect  at 
times  of  it  being  interminable  and  fruitless.  Jefferson  became 
gloomy  and  anxious.  At  last,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  fourth 
of  July,  a  comical  circumstance  brought  the  discussion  to-  an 
end.  Near  the  hall  in  which  Congress  sat  was  a  livery  stable 
(the  story  is  Jefferson's),  from  which  on  that  afternoon  a  swarm 
of  vicious  flies  issued,  and,  entering  through  the  open  windows, 
attacked  the  thinly-covered  legs  of  the  members.  Resistance 
was  made  with  handkerchief  and  fan,  but  to  little  effect.  The 
biting  became  unendurable,  and  the  dignified  body,  goaded  to 
distraction,  hurried  on  to  a  swift  and  ridiculous  conclusion  of 
the  momentous  question.  To  escape  the  flies  a  vote  was  taken! 
The  Declaration  was  adopted,  four  members  voting  against  it 
and  New  York  withholding  its  vote.  It  was  signed  at  once  by 
John  Hancock,  the  President  of  Congress,  and  Charles  Thomp 
son,  Secretary.  The  remaining  signatures  that  appear  upon 
the  engrossed  copy  which  is  to  be  seen  in  old  Independence 
Hall,  Philadelphia,  were  affixed  on  August  2nd,  1776.  Of  the 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  19 

fifty-six  signers  of  the  declaration,  seven  were  not  members  of 
Congress  when  it  passed. 

On  July  5th  Congress  adopted  a  resolution  ordering  that  the 
Declaration  be  sent  to  the  several  assemblies,  conventions,  and 
councils  of  safety,  and  to  all  the  officers  of  the  continental 
armies.  In  this  way  it  was  soon  proclaimed  throughout  the 
United  States.  It  met  with  the  most  enthusiastic  ratification 
and  adoption.  From.  New  Hampshire  to  Georgia  there  were 
bonfires,  torchlight  processions,  the  firing  of  guns,  and  ringing 
of  bells.  'The  people,"  said  Samuel  Adams,  "seemed  to  recog 
nize  this  resolution  as  though  it  was  a.  decree  promulgated  from 
heaven." 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  has  been  severely  criticised 
both  for  its  style  and  for  the  principles  it  enunciates,  but  its  place 
among  the  great  papers  of  history  is  secure,  and  criticism  of  it 
is  becoming  idle  and  uninteresting.  That  it  contained  nothing 
new  was  perhaps  the  feature  that  won  for  it  the  affection  of  the 
world.  Jefferson  claimed  nothing  new  for  it.  When  charged 
with  rehashing  old  sentiments  and  copying  from  Locke  and 
Otis  when  he  wrote  it,  he  denied  the  charge  of  plagiarism,  but 
acknowledged  that  there  were  no  new  ideas  or  new  sentiments 
in  it.  Nevertheless,  the  declaration  is  no  servile  imitation.  It 
was  written  from  the  shoulder.  "I  turned  to  neither  book  nor 
pamphlet  while  writing  it,"  says  Jefferson.  How  peculiarly  it 
was  an  embodiment  of  his  own  ideas  is  seen  in  a  sentence  in 
a  letter  to  his  friend  Fleming,  written  three  days  before  the 
Declaration  was  passed.  "If  any  doubts  has  (sic)  arisen  as  to 
me,  my  country  will  have  my  political  creed  in  the  form  of  the 
declaration  which  I  was  lately  directed  to>  draw."  Jefferson 
was  brimful  of  ideas  of  reform  when  he  wrote  the  Declaration, 
and  he  aimed  to  make  it  a  profession  of  his  political  faith.  His 
faith  was  that  of  a  democrat,  and  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence  is  a  formal  expression  of  the  beliefs  and  aspirations  of  the 
democracy  of  his  time.  It  is  a  remarkable  paper,  because  it  so 
successfully  proclaims  the  spirit  of  the  age  in  which  it  was 
written. 


20  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 


JEFFERSON  AS  A  LAW-GIVER. 

Jefferson's  interest  in  the  affairs  of  Congress  could  not  crowd 
out  his  interest  in  the  affairs  of  his  own  State,  Virginia,  and 
not  the  United  States,  was  as  yet  his  country.  When  the  Con 
vention  declared  for  independence  it  took  steps  to  provide  for  a 
form  of  government  for  the  new  order  of  things.  While  Jeffer 
son  was  in  Philadelphia  working  on  the  great  document  that 
has  secured  his  fame,  he  found  time  to  prepare  outlines  of  a 
Constitution  for  the  new  Virginia.  He  sent  his  plan  to<  the 
President  of  the  Convention,  but  it  arrived  too1  late.  The  con 
struction  of  a  new  Constitution  had  already  proceeded  so  far 
that  it  was  not  deemed  wise  to*  go  back  and  open  up  for  debate 
matters  that  had  been  agreed  upon  by  the  assembly  after  long 
discussion.  Jefferson's  preamble,  however,  written  in  the  spirit 
of,  and  bearing  a  strong  similitude  to,  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  was  adopted  as  an  amendment  and  prefixed  to  the 
new  Constitution. 

We  have  seen  that  Jefferson  was  re-elected  to  Congress  in 
June,  1/76,  but  in  September  he  resigned  his  seat,  claiming  at 
the  time  that  the  situation  of  his  domestic  affairs  demanded  this 
step.  In  the  memoir  of  his  life,  written  in  1820,  he  gives  an 
entirely  different  reason  for  leaving  Congress.  He  there  says: 
"A  meeting  of  the  (Virginia)  legislature  was  to>  be  held  in 
October  and  I  had  been  elected  a  member  by  my  county.  I 
knew  that  our  legislation  under  the  regal  government  had  many 
very  vicious  points  which  urgently  required  reformation,  and 
I  thought  I  could  be  of  more  use  in  forwarding  that."  What 
ever  his  motives  have  been,  whatever  the  true  reason  was,  he 
vacated  his  seat  in  Congress  and  entered  the.  Virginia  legisla 
ture. 

About  this  time  (October,  1776)  Jefferson  was  selected  by 
Congress  to  go  to  France  with  Franklin  and  Silas  Deane,  for 
the  purpose  of  effecting  a  treaty  of  alliance.  It  was  the  dream 
of  his  youth  to  visit  Europe.  The  cause  of  his  ill-success  in 
his  first  love  affair  has  been  attributed  to*  the  fact  that  he  asked 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  21 

the  young  lady  to  defer  marriage  until  he  should  have  spent 
several  years  abroad.  This  diplomatic  appointment  would 
enable  him  to  realize  his  dream  in  an  almost  ideal  way.  He 
debated  long  and  anxiously  whether  he  should  go  or  not.  After 
three  days  of  waiting,  the  messenger  who  brought  word  of  his 
appointment  returned  to  Congress  with  this  answer:  "It  would 
argue  great  insensibility  in  me  could  I  receive  with  indifference 
so  confidential  an  appointment  from  your  body.  My  thanks 
are  a  poor  return  for  the  partiality  they  have  been  pleased  to 
entertain  for  me.  No  cares  for  my  own  person  nor  yet  for  my 
private  affairs  would  have  induced  one  moment's  hesitation  to 
accept  the  charge.  But  circumstances  very  peculiar  to  the 
situation  of  my  family,  such  as  neither  permit  me  to  leave  or  to 
carry  it,  compel  me  to  ask  leave  to*  decline  a  service  so  hon 
orable,  and  at  the  same  time  so*  important  to  the  American 
cause." 

Jefferson  took  his  seat  in  the  first  republican  House  of  Dele 
gates  that  met  in  Virginia  on  the  first  day  of  the  session,  and 
entered  at  once  upon  a  labor  of  reform  that  was  to  prove  the 
greatest  work  of  his  life,  and  that  revolutionized  the  public 
and  private  law  of  the  State.  The  code  of  Virginia,  when  he  and 
Wythe  and  Madison  took  hold  of  it  to  make  it  reasonable  and 
human  and  just,  was  a  strange  pot-pourri  of  tyranny,  cruelty 
and  bigotry.  Its  penal  code,  like  that  of  the  mother  country 
before  the  days  of  Bentham,  was  as  unscientific  as  it  was  severe. 
At  every  county  seat  there  was  a  pillory,  a  whipping-post,  and 
stocks.  A  general  law  commanded  the  erection  of  these  instru 
ments  of  torture  in  the  yards  of  all  court-houses.  The  ducking- 
stool  for  babbling  women  could  be  added  if  such  was  the  local 
option.  The  laws  in  force  relating  to  religion  were  as  intolerant 
as  the  age  in  which  they  had  been  passed — the  age  of  the 
wrongly  named  "Toleration  Act."  To  call  in  question  the 
Trinity  or  to  be  a  deist  was  punishable  with  imprisonment  with 
out  bail.  To  be  a  Catholic  debarred  a  man  of  the  right  to 
teach,  to  own  a  horse  or  a  gun,  or  to>  give  testimony  in  a  court 
of  law.  A  Protestant  minister  not  of  the  Anglican  faith  could 
be  legally  drummed  out  of  the  country.  The  right  of  voting 


22  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

was  limited  to  those  owning  twenty-five  acres  of  land  with  a 
house  thereon,  or  one  hundred  acres  without  a  house.  In  an 
incorporated  city  a  man  could  not  vote  unless  he  was  the  owner 
of  land  within  the  city  limits.  Harsh  naturalization  laws  dis 
couraged  immigration.  The  law  of  entail  and  primogeniture 
flourished  as  in  England. 

Jefferson's  first  attack  upon  the  old  order  of  things  was 
directed  against  a  class  to  which  he  himself  belonged — the 
aristocracy.  Much  of  the  best  land  of  Virginia  descended  from 
oldest  son  to  oldest  son  by  way  of  entail.  Such  land  was  not 
liable  for  debt,  could  not  be  bequeathed  by  will,  could  not  be 
alienated  even  with  the  consent  of  the  owner  without  special 
act  of  the  legislature.  Such  a  system  of  land  tenure  was  op 
posed  to  one  of  Jefferson's  pet  theories — to*  wit,  that  one  genera 
tion  has  no  right  to  bind  succeeding  generations;  that  the 
usufruct  of  the  earth  belongs  to  the  living,  not  to  the  dead. 
Entails,  he  said,  were  "contrary  to  good  policy,  tended  to  de 
ceive  honest  traders  who  gave  credit  on  the  visible  possession 
of  such  estates,  discouraged  the  holder  from  improving  his 
land,  and  sometimes  did  injury  to  the  morals  of  youth  by 
rendering  them  independent  of  and  disobedient  to*  their  par 
ents."  "To  annul  this  privilege,  and,  instead  of  an  aristocracy 
of  wealth,  of  more  harm  and  danger  than  benefit  to  society,  to 
make  an  opening  for  the  aristocracy  of  virtue  and  talent," 
Jefferson  introduced  his  bill  for  the  abolition  of  entails.  It 
met,  of  course,  with  the  fiercest  resistance.  Strenuous  efforts 
were  made  to  amend  the  bill  in  such  a  way  as  to>  break  its  force. 
But  Jefferson  stood  firm,  and  the  bill  passed  substantially  in 
the  form  in  which  he  desired.  Tenure  by  fee  tail  was  abolished ; 
lands  and  slaves  could  no  longer  be  prevented  by  law  from  fall 
ing  into  the  hands  of  their  rightful  owners.  There  was  now  but 
one  prop  for  the  landed  aristocracy.  That  was  the  principle  of 
primogeniture,  and  through  the  efforts  of  Jefferson  that,  too, 
was  soon  removed.  The  blow  dealt  by  these  reforms  fell  heavily 
on  the  old  families  and  the  recoil  upon  Jefferson  was  severe. 
The  great  land  holders  of  the  State  were  henceforth  his  bitter 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  23 

enemies,  and  their  children  and  children's  children  became 
enemies  of  his  memory. 

Jefferson's  next  measure  was  perhaps  as  important  in  its 
far  reaching  effects  as  the  one  just  mentioned.  He  introduced 
into  the  legislature  and  carried  through  it  a  bill  for  the  naturali 
zation  of  foreigners.  The  conditions  of  becoming  a  citizen  were 
made  easier  than  any  other  government  perhaps  had  ever  before 
dared  to  make  them.  The  alien  was  simply  to>  show  a  residence 
of  two  years  within  the  State,  declare  his  intentions  of  remaining 
in  the  State,  and  give  assurances  of  his  good  faith  and  loyalty. 
Minors,  the  children  of  naturalized  parents,  were  admitted  to 
citizenship  without  legal  formalities,  as  were  minors  who  came 
to  America  without  their  parents.  The  extremely  liberal 
features  of  this  bill  were  embodied  by  Congress  in  its  first 
naturalization  law,  and  incorporated  in  all  subsequent  legisla 
tions  respecting  citizenship.  Notwithstanding  the  war  and  the 
unfavorable  naturalization  laws,  immigrants  were  coming  into 
Virginia  at  this  time  by  thousands  and  it  was  not  an  unwise 
political  move  upon  the  part  of  Jefferson  to  come  forward  as 
the  champion  of  the  strangers'  rights  in  their  ne\v  home.  It  is 
not  suggested,  however,  that  he  was  induced  by  ulterior  political 
reasons  to  introduce  the  bill.  Easy  naturalization*  and  easy 
expatriation f  were  a  part  of  his  general  theory  of  easy  govern 
ment. 

The  next  act  of  Jefferson  in  the  legislature  was  one  that  he 
regarded — and  students  of  politics  will  agree  with  him — as 
being  of  more  importance  than  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence.  He  brought  up  the  subject  of  religious  liberty,  attempt 
ing  to  secure  the  enactment  of  the  following  just  and  compre 
hensive  law:  "No  man  shall  be  compelled  to  frequent  or  support 
any  religious  worship,  ministry,  or  place  whatsoever;  nor  shall 
be  enforced,  restrained,  molested,  or  burdened  in  his  body  or 
goods;  nor  shall  otherwise  suffer  on  account  of  his  religious 
opinions  or  belief;  but  all  men  shall  be  free  to  profess,  and  by 
argument  to  maintain,  their  opinion  in  matters  of  religion;  and 


*See   Naturalization,  page  314. 
tSee  Expatriation,  page  212. 


24  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

the  same  shall  in  no  wise  diminish,  enlarge  or  affect  their  civil 
capacities." 

The  advocacy  of  this  measure  brought  on  the  bitterest  contest 
in  which  Jefferson  was  ever  engaged.  It  was  the  beginning  of 
his  long  warfare  with  the  clergy.  In  terms  peculiar  to  theolog 
ical  combat  he  was  denounced  as  the  enemy  of  religion  and  as 
an  atheist.  The  clergy  at  first  were  successful.  The  bill  failed 
to  pass.  Some  of  its  provisions,  however,  were  acceded  to  by 
the  legislature.  The  law  declaring  unorthodox  opinion  to  be 
criminal  was  repealed,  attendance  at  church  was  made  voluntary 
and  dissenters  were  allowed  to  withhold  their  contributions  from 
the  Episcopal  Church.  These  were  substantial  gains,  but  they 
were  far  from  religious  liberty  as  aimed  at  by  Jefferson.  For 
three  years  he  fought  for  the  complete  separation  of  Church 
and  State,  and  then,  being  called  to  a  higher  station,  he  left  his 
plans  in  the  hands  of  his  able  and  indispensable  coadjutors, 
George  Wythe,  and  his  young  disciple,  James  Madison.  In 
1786,  after  a  struggle  of  ten  years,  Jefferson  had  the  supreme 
satisfaction  of  seeing  his  bill  pass  without  material  change. 

He  did  not  over-estimate  the  importance  of  his  efforts  in 
behalf  of  religious  liberty.*  If  the  Republic  of  the  United 
States  is  new  in  any  important  sense,  if  it  has  introduced  any 
thing  really  novel  among  human  institutions,  that  new  thing  is 
the  separation  of  Church  and  State.  The  world  has  had  its  de 
mocracies,  its  republics,  its  governments  \vith  a  trinal  division  of 
powers,  its  representative  systems,  but  it  has  never  before 
known  such  a  thing  as  a.  free  state  existing  side  by  side  with  a 
free  church,  and  along  with  this  an  almost  perfect  freedom  of 
religious  opinion.  This  is  what  Virginia  needed  and  what  the 
United  States  needed,  and  Jefferson  saw  the  need  more  clearly 
than  any  man  of  his  time. 

The  man  who  wrote  the  words  "all  men  are  created  equal" 
could  not  but  be  expected  to>  chafe  under  the  institutions  of 
slavery.  Jefferson  was  an  abolitionist  in  theory,  but  practical 
abolition  presented  insuperable  objections  to  his  mind.  His 


*See  Religion,  page  357. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  25 

plan  was  to  bring  about  the  freedom  of  the  negroes  by  gradual 
emancipation.*  He  drew  up  and  offered  a  bill  preventing  the 
further  importation  of  slaves  by  sea  or  land.  This  bill,  which 
readily  passed,  was  intended  as  the  first  of  a  series  that  should 
remove  every  vestige  of  slavery!  from  the  State.  His  scheme, 
briefly  stated,  was  to  regard  as  lawfully  free  all  slave-born 
children,  to  educate  them  at  the  public  expense,  and  when 
they  wrere  grown,  to>  transplant  them  to<  some  distant  and 
isolated  colony  where  they  might  enjoy  under  a  mild  protector 
ate  the  privileges  of  self-government.  He  did  not  believe  that 
the  negro  could  live  as  a  free  man  side  by  side  with  the  white 
man,  but  he  did  most  sincerely  believe  that  he  ought  to  be  free. 
And  he  believed  that  he  would  be  free.  "Nothing,"  he  said, 
"was  more  clearly  written  in  the  book  of  fate."  Very  little 
nevertheless,  came  of  his  elaborate  scheme  for  emancipation. 
"The  public  mind  would  not  bear  it,"  he  said;  and  it.  does  not 
appear  that  after  the  Revolutionary  period  he  was  ever  very 
industrious  in  his  efforts  to  prepare  the  public  mind  to  bear  it. 

A  bill  that  was  dearer  even  to>  Jefferson's  heart  than  that  for 
the  freedom  of  the  slaves  was  one  for  the  diffusion  of  knowl 
edge.  $  He  saw  that  a  democracy  must  rest  upon  the  enlighten 
ment  of  the  masses  and  he  brought  forward  his  system;  free 
elementary  schools  for  all  the  children  of  the  State  for  a  term 
of  three  years;  high  schools  at  convenient  places  for  superior 
and  ambitious  youths;  a  State  university  at  the  top.  Many 
States  of  the  Union  have  adopted  this  system,  but  Virginia 
was  not  prepared  for  it  when  Jefferson  proposed  it.  The 
measure  failed  in  the  legislature  more  completely  than  any  of 
its  author's  cherished  reforms. 

Early  in  1777  Jefferson  proposed  to  the  legislature  a  com 
plete  revision  of  the  laws  of  Virginia.  The  proposal  was 
adopted,  and  he  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  revising  com 
mittee.  His  colleagues  on  the  committee  were  Edmund 
Pendleton,  George  Wythe,  George  Mason  and  T.  L.  Lee. 


*See  Emancipation,  page  201. 
tSee  Slavery,  page  382. 
JSee  Education,  page  194. 


26  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

Mason  resigned  on  the  ground  that  he  was  not  a  lawyer,  and 
Lee  soon  died.  The  work,  therefore,  fell  upon  Jefferson, 
Pendleton  and  Wythe,  and  as  Pendleton  was  not  skilful  at 
such  business,  the  burden  of  the  task  fell  upon  Jefferson  and 
his  old  law  preceptor.  For  two  years  these  two  worked  upon 
the  revision,  going  over  the  whole  body  of  British  and  colonial 
statutes,  and  extracting  therefrom  a  concise  and  coherent 
system  of  law  for  the  future  government  of  Virginia,  The 
report  of  the  revisers  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-six 
bills,  but  these  were  not  adopted  in  a  mass.  Bills  included  in 
the  revision  were  taken  up  from  time  to  time  and  passed  as 
the  temper  of  the  legislature  permitted  and  the  needs  of  the 
hour  demanded.  In  1785  the  report  was  taken  up  systemat 
ically.  Jefferson  was  far  away  from  Virginia  at  this  time,  but 
he  had  left  his  work  in  faithful  -hands.  Through-  the  persistent 
efforts  of  his  youthful  neighbor  and  political  ally,  James  Madi 
son,  most  of  the  work  of  the  revision  was  enacted  into  law. 

JEFFERSON  AS  GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA. 

In  1779,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six,  Jefferson  was  elected  Gov 
ernor  of  Virginia  by  the  legislature  of  the  State.  His  rival 
for  the  honor  was  the  trusted  friend  of  his  youth,  John  Page, 
one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  Virginia  and  an  ardent  patriot. 
The  contest  was  conducted  in  the  most  decent  manner  imagin 
able,  and  ended  with  good  humor  on  both  sides.  Page  sent 
his  successful  friend  a,  note  of  congratulation  and  good  wishes. 
Jefferson's  reply  is  a  model  of  delicacy  and  tact.  "It  had  given 
me  much  pain,"  he  said,  "that  the  zeal  of  our  respective  friends 
should  have  ever  placed  us  in  the  situation  of  competitors.  I 
was  comforted,  however,  with  the  reflection  that  it  was  their 
competition,  not  ours,  and  that  the  difference  of  the  numbers 
which  decided  between  us  was  too  insignificant  to>  give  you  a 
pain  or  me  a  pleasure,  had  our  dispositions  toward  each  other 
been  such  as  to  admit  these  sensations."  Page  had  a  long  and 
honorable  public  career,  and  lived  to  see  the  day  when  it  was 
Jefferson's  time  to  congratulate  him  as  Governor  of  Virginia. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  27 

The  two  remained  close  friends,  and  when  Jefferson  was 
President  he  took  special  pains  to  provide  Page  with  a  profitable 
sinecure. 

When  he  took  his  seat  as  Governor  on  June  ist,  1779,  Virginia 
was  in  a  sad  plight.  The  French  alliance,  which  had  just  been 
concluded,  had  aroused  England  to<  a  bitter  and  cruel  policy, 
and  had  not  as  yet  aroused  a  corresponding  zeal  in  America. 
If  America  was  to  become  an  accession  to<  France,  it  was  the 
interest  of  England,  her  commissioners  declared,  to  render 
that  accession  of  as  little  avail  as  possible.  Pillage  and  the 
torch  and  extermination  were  now  to  be  the  means  of  subjuga 
tion.  The  brunt  of  the  new  warfare  was  to*  be  borne  by  the 
South.  The  fairest  scene  for  the  ravaging  of  the  invader  was 
Virginia.  On  the  west — and  her  western  frontier  extended  to 
the  Mississippi — the  Indians  incited  by  English  agents  were 
threatening  to  cross  the  Alleghanies  and  destroy  the  civilization 
of  the  border  co-unties.  On  the  east,  broad,  deep  streams  in 
vited  British  men-of-war  to  ascend  and  efface  the  important 
places  of  the  State,  for  there  were  no  boats  and  no  forts  to  pre 
vent  them.  On  the  south  the  armies  of  Cornwallis  were  harry-- 
ing  the  Carolinas  and  pressing  hard  upon,  the  border.  At  the 
North  was  Washington,  calling  for  assistance. 

The  State  was  helpless  to  resist  an  invasion.  Her  four  armed 
vessels,  which  mounted  in  all  but  sixty-two  guns,  were  so  poorly 
manned  that  they  were  practically  useless.  Her  militia,  con 
sidering  the  vast  area  to*  be  defended,  was  very  small;  worse 
still,  it  was  inexperienced;  and  worst  of  all,  it  was  wretchedly 
supplied  with  the  munitions  of  war.  There  was  but  one  good 
gun  for  four  or  five  men.  There  were  no  saddles,  blankets, 
tents,  and  there  was  no  money  with  which,  to  buy  these  things. 
The  normal  military  resources  of  the  State  had  been  exhausted 
in  responding  to  the  call  of  Washington  and  Congress. 

To  defend  the  State  successfully  in  such  circumstances  re 
quired  a  great  administrator  and  a  great  warrior,  and  Jefferson 
was  neither.  He  was  the  author  of  some  pleasing  speculations 
in  political  science,  he  \vas  a  bold  reformer  of  the  jurisprudence 
of  his  State,  but  he  had  never  been  tested  for  practical  states- 


28  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

manship.  He  entered  upon  his  arduous  duties  with  decision 
and  energy,  and  for  a  year  at  least  his  administration  moved 
along  fairly  well.  In  the  west  the  brilliant  George  Rogers 
Clarke  captured  Colonel  Hamilton,  the  English  leader  of  the 
Indians,  and  sent  him  in  chains  to  Jefferson.  The  captive  was  a 
dangerous  man  and  had  inflicted  wanton  barbarities  upon  the 
Americans,  Jefferson,  in  retaliation,  chained  him  and  threw  him 
into  a  dungeon.  Protests  arose,  and  the  Governor  bending  to 
Washington's  judgment  finally  unshackled  the  prisoner  and  ad 
mitted  him  to  parole.  The  capture  of  Hamilton  and  his  forces 
was  a  most  fortunate  event  for  Virginia,  for  it  freed  her  western 
border  from  the  danger  of  Indian  incursions;  it  was  also  fortun 
ate  for  the  American  cause,  for  it  secured  to  the  Americans  the 
possession  of  a  vast  area  (the  North  West  Territory)  that  other 
wise  would  have  been  claimed  by  the  English  when  settling  the 
terms  of  the  treaty  of  peace. 

Jefferson's  first  year  in  office  passed  without  disaster,  and 
he  was  re-elected  for  a  second  term.  Serious  troubles  now  began. 
The  enemy  was  pressing  hard  upon  the  southern  border  and  the 
most  strenuous  action  was  imperative.  Gates  went  south  in 
1780  to  take  command,  and  it  was  Jefferson's  judgment  that 
if  Virginia  was  to  be  saved  from  the  scourge  of  a  ruthless 
invasion  it  must  be  through  Gates.  All  his  efforts,  therefore, 
were  directed  toward  strengthening  the  hands  of  that  general 
in  the  Carclinas.  The  counties  were  scoured  for  men;  wagons 
(including  those  of  the  Governor)  were  impressed  into  service; 
blacksmith  shops  were  converted  into  armories;  ladies  were 
asked — and  not  in  vain — to  contribute  their  jewels  to  the  cause. 
But  all  this  exertion  came  to  naught.  In  August,  1780,  Gates 
was  defeated  with  shame  and  disaster  at  Camden,  South  Caro 
lina,  and  the  march  of  the  enemy  northward,  although  impeded, 
could  not  be  checked.  In  October  a  British  fleet  of  sixty  ves 
sels,  with  three  thousand  regulars  under  General  Leslie,  sailed 
into  Hampton  Roads,  where  they  remained  waiting  for  a  junc 
tion  with  Cornwallis.  Greene  and  the  yeomanry  of  North 
Carolina  were  making  traveling  slow  and  difficult  for  that 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  29 

officer,  and  Leslie,  after  waiting  a  month,  sailed  away  with  his 
whole  armament. 

Early  in  January  (i/Si)  news  came  to  Richmond — the  little 
town  had  just  become  the  capital  of  the  State1 — that  the  British 
fleet  had  again  entered  the  Chesapeake  and  was  ascending  the 
James.  Jefferson  called  out  the  militia  and  began  to  move  the 
public  property  to  Westham,  a  village  on  the  James  above  the 
head  of  navigation.  The  foe  was  under  the  command  of  the 
once  brilliant  but  now  cautious  and  feeble  Benedict  Arnold. 
There  was  not  a  liandful  of  raw  militia  to  oppose  his  regulars, 
and  resistance  would  have  been  a  mockery.  No  resistance  was 
offered,  and  the  region  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the  traitor.  He 
looted  the  town  of  all  its  military  stores  and  of  such  public 
property  as  Jefferson  had  failed  to>  save.  After  remaining  in 
Richmond  for  one  day,  he  then  dropped  down  the  James, 
plundering  as  he  went.  In  the  consternation  that  prevailed 
personal  safety  was  the  law  of  the  hour.  The  members  of  the 
Governor's  Council  and  of  the  assembly  gave  up  all  to  save 
their  families  and  themselves.  Jefferson  was  indefatigable  in 
supervising  the  removal  of  the  military  stores  and  public  prop 
erty.  Having  accompanied  his  family  on  their  way  to  a  place 
of  safety,  he  turned  back  and  was  pushing  on  to  Manchester 
when  his  horse  sank  dead  beneath  him.  With  the  saddle  and 
bridle  on  his  back  he  went  to  a  farm  house  near  by  and  secured 
an  unbroken  colt.  His  excellent  horsemanship  now  stood  him 
lin  good  stead.  He  mounted  the  colt  and  sped  on.  In  his  six 
days'  absence  from  Richmond,  he  wras  eighty-four  hours  in  the 
saddle. 

Upon  the  departure  of  Arnold,  Jefferson  and  the  legislature 
returned  to  Richmond  and  resumed  the  business  of  government. 
But  civil  government  was  now  at  an  end  in  Virginia.  Corn- 
wallis  and  Tarleton  had  crossed  the  border  and  were  conducting1 
a  warfare  unworthy  of  their  race  and  their  own  better  natures. 
The  legislature  conferred  almost  absolute  power  upon  Jeffer 
son,  but  this  availed  little.  What  was  needed  was  muskets, 
and  these  could  not  be  procured,  for  there  was  no  money  with 
which  to  buy  them,  arrl  there  were  no  factories  in  which  they 


30  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

could  be  made.  Jefferson  felt  his  helplessness  and  longed  for 
the  day  when  his  tenure  of  office  should  cease.  His  term 
expired  on  June  ist,  1781,  but  the  Assembly,  then  trying  to  hold 
sessions  at  Charlottesville  near  Monticello,  neglected  to  choose  a 
successor,  and  for  twelve  days  Virginia  was  without  a  Governor. 
A  party  arose  advocating  a  dictator  for  the  crisis.  This  plan 
Jefferson  opposed  with  all  his  might.  "The  very  thought,"  he 
declared,  "was  treason  against  the  people,  was  treason  against 
mankind  in  general."  Whether  Jefferson  could  have  been 
elected  for  a  third  term  or  not  is  problematical.  In  the  legisla 
ture  there  was  considerable  muttering.  One  member  openly 
charged  the  Governor  with  incompetency.  Jefferson  removed 
the  question  of  his  re-election,  by  declining  to  serve  further. 
Through  his  influence  his  friend  General  Nelson  was  chosen  as 
his  successor.  Supreme  military  power  was  conferred  upon 
Nelson,  but  he  proved  to  be  as  powerless  as  Jefferson  to  bring 
relief  from  the  invader,  and  his  dictatorial  power  only  served 
to  make  him  unpopular.  In  a  few  months  he  threw  up  his 
office  in,  disgust.  There  was  no  relief  until  Washinpton  should 
come  down  from  the  north. 

The  day  after  his  term  of  office  expired,  Jefferson  was  visited 
at  his  home  at  Monticello  by  a  body  of  raiders  detached  by 
Tarleton.  The  object  of  the  visit  was  to  carry  away  Jefferson 
as  a  rich  prize  of  war,  but  a.  lucky  circumstance  balked  the 
enterprise.  Jefferson  having  been  warned  that  the  enemy  was 
coming  to  Monticello',  put  his  family  into  safe  hands  and  prompt 
ly  sent  it  away.  He  was  perfectly  cool  in  the  midst  of  alarms. 
He  lingered  to  save  some  of  his  cherished  papers.  After  remain 
ing  as  long  as  he  thought  prudent,  he  went  to  his  blacksmith 
shop  to  get  his  horse,  which  he  had  ordered  to  be  shod  fresh  for 
a  hard  run.  Before  mounting  he  ascended  the  hill  a  little 
way,  and  at  a  favorite  spot,  with  the  aid  of  his  telescope  he 
surveyed  Charlottesville  and  the  whole  region  round  about,  and 
could  see  no  trace  of  an  enemy.  He  listened,  and  there  was  per 
fect  stillness.  Concluding  that  the  alarm  was  false,  he  deter 
mined  to  return  to  his  mansion  and  save  a  few  more  of  his 
papers.  He  had  gone  toward  the  house  but  a  little  way  when 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  31 

he  noticed  that  in  kneeling1  to  level  his  telescope,  his  light 
walking  sword  had  slipped  from  its  sheath.  He  returned  to 
where  he  had  used  his  spy-glass.  While  there  he  took  another 
look,  and  saw  that  Charlottesville  was  overrun  with  British 
soldiers.  He  mounted  his  horse  and  escaped.  If  he  had  re 
turned  to  his  mansion,  as  was  his  original  intention,  he  would 
surely  have  been  captured,  for  the  troopers  by  an  unsuspected 
route  had  entered  his  doors  five  minutes  after  his  departure. 

The  mansion  at  Monticello,  thanks  to  Tarleton's  orders, 
escaped  serious  pillage  or  damage.  Though  the  house  itself 
was  not  plundered  or  burnt,  the  rest  of  Governor  Jefferson's 
property  suffered  severely  at  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  All  the 
stock  and  farm,  products  that  might  be  of  service  were  carried 
off,  the  rest  being  wantonly  destroyed.  Jefferson  was  especially 
outraged  at  the  treatment  of  his  slaves.  Twenty-seven  of  these 
were  carried  off  by  Cornwallis.  Most  of  them  returned  after 
wards,  but  died  of  a  pestilence  contracted  while  in  captivity. 
The  dislike  of  England  that  showed  itself  so  emphatically  in 
Jefferson's  subsequent  career  may  be  ascribed  largely  to  Corn 
wallis'  general  devastation  of  Virginia,  his  own  experience  of 
wanton  outrage  lending  a  personal  tinge  to  his  bitterness. 

On  October  I9th,  1781,  the  ravages  of  Cornwallis  were  brought 
to  an  end  at  Yorktown,  and  peace  and  civil  law  resumed  their 
sway  in  Virginia.  But  victory  did  not  bring  peace  to  Jefferson's 
mind.  The  public  disapprobation*  of  his  conduct  as  Governor 
continued  to  disturb  him  long  after  every  one  else  had  ceased 
to  think  of  the  matter.  He  would  not  rest  without  what  we 
should  call  a  "vindication."  He  had  himself  elected  from  Albe- 
marle  to  the  Assembly  expressly  that  he  might  in  person  meet 
certain  charges  that  it  was  said  would  be  brought  against  him. 
At  the  proper  time  he  arose  and  asked  for  the  charges.  No  one 
had  any  charges  to  make.  "Not  a  word  was  heard  in  reply." 
Jefferson  then  made  a  statement  exculpating  himself  from  every 
real  and  fancied  charge.  The  legislature  was  in  the  kindest 
humor  with  him — it  was  just  two  months  after  Yorktown — and 


*See  Approbation,  page  140. 


32  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

it  ought  to  have  been,  for  many  of  its  members  had  run  from 
Arnold  faster  than  he.  It  accordingly  in  all  sincerity  promptly 
passed  without  a  dissenting  voice  a  resolution  thanking  Thomas 
Jefferson,  Esquire,  for  his  impartial,  upright  and  attentive  ad 
ministration  while  in  office,  and  declaring  in  the  strongest 
manner  that  it  entertained  a  high  opinion  of  his  ability,  recti 
tude  and  integrity  as  chief  magistrate  of  the  Commonwealth. 
For  all  that,  his  career  as  Governor  was  a  sore  point  with 
Jefferson,  In  his  Memoir  the  only  thing  he  relates  of  the  period 
of  his  governorship  concerns  his  connection  with  William  and 
Mary  College,  to  which  institution  he  was  appointed  visitor  in 
1779.  He  skips  his  administration  completely,  saying  that  to 
write  his  own  history  of  these  two  years  would  be  to>  write  a 
history  of  the  revolution  in  Virginia  for  the  period.  In  omitting 
this  subject  Jefferson  showed  good  taste,  but  his  reasons  for  so 
doing  convict  him  of  a  conspicuous  inconsistency,  for  he  wrote 
copiously  of  himself  in  all  other  public  capacities. 

Early  in  1782  Jefferson  left  the  legislature.  Though  his 
exculpation  had  been  complete,  yet  continued  brooding  over 
the  attacks  upon,  him  induced  a  morbid  state  of  mind,  which 
practically  withdrew  him  from,  all  association  with  the  world. 
This  course  was  severely  criticised  by  his  enemies,  and  to  his 
friends  it  was  a  source  of  deep  regret.  Colonel  Monroe,  a 
neighbor,  ventured  in  the  name  of  friendship'  to  attempt  to 
recall  him  to  more  healthy  views  of  life;  but  his  appeals  were 
of  no  avail,  for  they  reached  Jefferson  while  he  was  experiencing 
the  deepest  sorrow  of  his  life.  In  September,  1782,  his  wife, 
who  had  been  in  failing  health  since  she  fled  from  Richmond 
on  Arnold's  approach,  expired.  The  blow  was  no  less  pros 
trating  for  being  expected,  and  he  abandoned  himself  to  an 
excess  of  grief. 

Two  months  after,  Jefferson  was  appointed  by  Congress  a 
Plenipotentiary  to  Europe.  Madison  had  been  instrumental  in 
bringing  about  the  appointment.  He  wrote  that  the  death  of 
his  wife  had  probably  changed  the  sentiment  of  Mr.  Jefferson 
with  regard  to  public  life,  and  that  all  the  reasons  which  had  led 
to  his  original  appointment  still  existed.  In  June,  1781,  the 


OF    THOMAS    JEFFERSON  33 

same  post  had  been  offered  to  Jefferson,  but  he  had  refused  to 
serve,  preferring  to  return  to  the  legislature  to  clear  himself 
of  any  charges  that  might  be  brought  against  him.  He  now 
accepted  the  appointment  for  reasons  afterward  stated  in  his 
Memoir.  "I  had,  two  months  before  that,  lost  the  cherished 
companion  of  my  life,  in  whose  affections,  unabated  on  both 
sides,  I  had  lived  the  last  ten  years  in  unchequered  happiness. 
With  the  public  interests  the  state  of  my  mind  concurred  in 
recommending  the  change  of  scene  proposed." 

Though  Jefferson  at  once  set  to*  work  to  put  his  private 
affairs  in  order,  the  purposes  of  the  mission  were  so  far  ad 
vanced  by  the  spring  of  1783  that  there  was  no  necessity  for 
him  to  sail.  The  appointment,  however,  was  of  the  utmost 
consequence  in  his  life.  It  presented  new  interests  and  lifted 
him  from  the  gloom  into  which  he  had  allowed  himself  to  sink. 

In  June,  1783,  he  was  elected  to  Congress.  He  soon  resumed 
the  influence  and  activity  of  former  sessions  and  acquired  a 
leadership  which,  in  view  of  the  ability  of  his  colleagues,  is  not 
to  be  rated  cheaply.  He  served  on  every  important  committee, 
and  was  chairman  of  the  committees  on  the  Peace  Treaty,  on 
the  Treasury,  on  the  Public  Debt,  and  on  Commercial  Relations 
with  the  nations  of  Europe.  He  headed  his  fellow-delegates  in 
the  execution  of  the  deed  by  which  Virginia  ceded  to*  the  gen 
eral  government  the  entire  Territory  of  the  Northwest;  and  it 
was  with  peculiar  pleasure  that  he  thus  saw  consummated  a 
measure  due  so  largely  to  his  own  initiation.  His  plan  for  the 
government  of  this  Territory,  submitted  by  him  to  Congress 
late  in  the  session,  was  one  of  his  greatest  contributions  to  our 
political  history.  Briefly  speaking,  it  provided  for  the  develop 
ment,  along  lines  of  local  self-government,  of  all  acquired  terri 
tory,  and  assured  the  ultimate  statehood  of  each  growing  com 
munity  in  the  West.  In  his  plan  no  detail  was  neglected.  The 
names  (many  of  them  absurdly  fanciful)  and  boundaries  of  the 
States  were  proposed,  and  the  nature  of  the  temporary  govern 
ment  to  be  established  in  them;  and  the  conditions  of  their 
admission  to  full  statehood  were  all  clearly  laid  down.  Among 
these  conditions  by  far  the  most  important  and  far-reaching  was 


34  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

the  clause  prohibiting,  in  those  States,  after  1800,  slavery  or 
involuntary  servitude.  This  clause  killed  the  plan  for  the  time 
being,  but  the  matter  was  taken  up  again  in  1787,  and  a  bill  was 
passed  following  Jefferson's  original  draft. 

It  was  at  this  session  of  Congress  that  the  subject  of  coinage 
and  of  the  money  unit  came  up  before  the  Committee  on 
Finance,  of  which  Jefferson  was  a  member.  He  considered  the 
unit  proposed  by  Mr.  Morris,  the  financier  (the  fourteen  hundred 
and  fortieth  part  of  a  dollar)  as  "too'  minute  for  ordinary  use, 
and  too  laborious  for  computation,  either  by  the  head  or  in 
figures,"  and  suggested  a  modification  that  was  adopted  by 
Congress.  He  also'  proposed  four  coins  in  the  decimal  ratio — 
viz.,  the  gold  piece  of  ten  dollars,  the  silver  dollar,  the  silver 
tenth  of  a  dollar,  and  the  copper  hundredth  of  a  dollar.* 

JEFFERSON   IN   FRANCE. 

In  May,  1784,  Congress  for  the  fourth  time  appointed  Jeffer 
son  to  a  foreign  post.  The  chief  duty  assigned  him  was  to 
negotiate  treaties  of  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  John 
Adams  and  Benjamin  Franklin  were  his  colleagues.  He  reached 
Paris,  his  official  residence,  on  the  6th  of  August,  accompanied 
by  his  eldest  daughter,  Martha.  He  placed  her  at  a  fashionable 
convent  school  and  entered  upon  his  duties.  In  the  strict 
fulfilment  of  their  mission,  Jefferson  and  his  colleagues  had  at 
first  but  poor  results  to  show.  In  France  the  Farmers  General, 
into  whose  hands  monopolies  granted  by  the  crown  had  put 
absolute  control  of  all  imports,  had  too*  strong  a  grip  to  be 
broken.  American  products,  especially  tobacco,  came  ex 
clusively  under  their  control.  What  is  more,  Jefferson  derived 
no  substantial  benefit  from,  the  additional  powers  conferred  on 
him  when,  in  1785,  he  formally  succeeded  Franklin  as  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  to  the  court  of  France.  Adams  had  some 
months  previously  been  sent  to  the  court  of  England  and  Jef 
ferson  was  left  in  France  as  the  sole  representative  of  his  coun- 


*See  Money,  page  309. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  35 

try.  In  all  matters  which  did  not  concern  the  immemorial  privi 
leges  of  monopolies,  his  intercourse  with  the  French  Govern 
ment  was  cordial  and  successful.  He  had  many  claims  to 
recognition  which  would  have  been  lacking  in  any  other 
American  of  the  day,  with  the  sole  exception  of  Franklin.  He 
was  known  personally  to  many  French  officers,  and  had  enter 
tained  at  Monticello  Frenchmen  of  eminent  attainments  in  civil 
life.  His  State  papers  had  had  wide  circulation;  and  the  publi 
cation  of  his  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  soon  after  his  arrival  in 
Paris,  confirmed  the  popular  opinion  of  him  as  a  man  of  power, 
and  a  happy  and  forceful  writer.  His  manners  were  frank, 
graceful,  and  genial.  Above  all,  he  was  known  to*  be  thoroughly 
in  accord  with  those  sentiments  of  liberty  and  of  national  rights 
at  that  time  so  popular  among  even  the  nobility  of  France. 

But,  however  much  these  advantages  served  him,  he  still 
had  to  confront  manifold  prejudices  in  all  that  concerned  com 
merce.  He  had  to  meet  formal  complaints  presented  by  the 
French  ministers  against  the  conduct  of  certain  individual  States 
of  the  American  Confederation  touching  the  treaty  with  France. 
It  was  broadly  intimated  that  in  consequence  of  the  separate 
action  of  certain  States,  arrangements  with  them,  as  a  whole, 
could  not  be  depended  upon.  A  vicious  system  of  over-trading 
in  Europe,  pursued  by  too  many  Americans  after  the  Peace  of 
1783,  brought  results  which  completely  blocked  anything  like 
a  secure  and  advantageous  treaty  of  commerce.  Even  in  France 
much  doubt  of  America's  credit  prevailed.  In  England,  Adams 
was  subjected  to  repeated  humiliation  on  this  score,  for  the 
whole  American  people  were  there  indiscriminately  branded  as 
cheats  and  swindlers.  Jefferson,  on  the  single  occasion  of  his 
presentation  at  the  English  court,  fancied  that  he  himself  was 
the  object  of  this  feeling.  He  felt  that  "it  was  impossible  for 
anything  to  be  more  ungracious  than  the  royal  notice  of  Mr. 
Adams  and  himself."  In  a  letter  of  January,  1786,  he  concisely 
sketched  the  causes  of  America's  unsavory  reputation.  "Two 
circumstances  are  particularly  objected  to  us;  the  non-payment 
of  our  debts,  and  the  want  of  energy7  in  our  government.  These 
discourage  a  connection  with  us."  And  he  wrote  his  old  friend, 


36  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

Gov.  Page  (May,  1786):  "I  consider  the  extravagance  which 
has  seized  them  (my  countrymen)  as  a  more  baneful  evil  than 
Toryism  was  during  the  war.  It  is  the  more  so,  as  the  example 
is  set  by  the  best  and  most  amiable  characters  among  us.  *  * 
These  things  have  been  more  deeply  impressed  on  my  mind  by 
what  I  have  seen  and  heard  in  England.  That  nation  hates 
us,  their  ministers  hate  us,  and  their  King,  more  than  all  other 
men.  *  *  *  Our  overtures  of  commercial  arrangements 
have  been  treated  with  a  derision  which  shows  their  firm  per 
suasion,  that  we  shall  never  unite  to  suppress  their  commerce 
or  even  impede  it." 

In  France,  Jefferson  finally  secured,  by  the  most  indefatigable 
exertions,  some  important  advantages  to  American  commerce. 
The  new7  regulations,  called  the  "Ordinance  of  Bernis,"  sup 
pressed  many  duties  on  American  products,  abolished  certain 
others  for  specific  periods,  and  in  general  made  concessions  such 
as  were  granted  to  no>  other  country  besides  America.  The 
moral  effects  of  the  treaty  were,  to  Jefferson,  more  important 
than  the  material  results  secured.  He  wrote  Jay  concerning  it, 
in  October,  1786:  "It  furnished  a  proof  of  the  disposition  of  the 
King  and  his  ministers  to°  produce  a  more  intimate  intercourse 
between  the  two  nations.  Indeed,  I  must  say  that  as  far  as  I 
am  able  to  see,  the  friendship  of  the  people  of  this  country 
toward  us  is  cordial  and  general,  and  that  it  is  a  kind  of  security 
for  the  friendship  of  ministers  who  cannot,  in  any  country,  be 
uninfluenced  by  the  voice  of  the  people." 

Jefferson's  attention  was  drawn  to  a  matter  which  afterwards 
became  a  problem  of  national  importance.  This  related  to  the 
course  to  be  pursued  toward  the  Barbary  powers.  Every  sea 
faring  country  of  Europe  had  long  submitted  to  the  capture  and 
confiscation  of  vessels  flying  their  flag,  and  the  holding  of  the 
crews  for  ransom.  An  American  vessel  was  now,  for  the  first 
time,  subjected  to  this  treatment.  Adams  and  Jefferson,  after 
consulting  together,  took  opposite  sides  of  the  question.  Jef 
ferson  took  strong  ground  for  forcibly  putting  a  stop  to  such 
outrages;  and  in  his  request  for  instructions  from  Congress  urged 
this  course.  But  the  negotiations  were  long  drawn  out,  and 


OF   THOMAS    JEFFERSON  37 

nothing  was  decided  upon  before  Jefferson  returned  to  America. 
In  a  letter  to  Jay,  of  August,  1785,  he  argues  for  a  naval  force, 
"that  being  the  only  weapon  by  which  we  can  reach  an  enemy." 
To  the  re-establishment  of  a  navy*  he  saw  objections;  but  in 
view  of  the  aptitude  of  the  American  nation  for  seafaring  and 
"their  determination  to  continue  as  carriers  on  the  water,"  these 
objections  \vere  more  than  offset  by  the  advantages  accruing. 

Though  removed  from  the  immediate  scene,  his  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  his  native  State  was  in  no  wise  abated.  He  ar 
ranged  for  procuring  a  statue  of  General  Washington.  He 
consulted  architects  and  furnished  plans  for  a  State-house  in 
Richmond.  Several  letters  passed  between  him  and  General 
Washington  on  the  subject  of  improving  the  navigation  of  the 
Potomac  and  of  running  a  canal  through  the  Dismal  Swamp. 
He  followed  the  rise  and  growth  of  the  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  Kentucky  to  separate  from  Virginia,  and  satisfied  him 
self  that  "the  separation  was  expedient  whenever  the  people  of 
Kentucky  should  have  agreed  among  themselves." 

In  national  affairs,  Jefferson,  through  his  correspondence, 
kept  himself  thoroughly  familiar  with  each  step  in  the  formation 
and  adoption  of  the  Constitution.!  His  attitude  on  the  subject 
of  the  Constitution  was  afterwards  much  misrepresented  by  his 
political  opponents.  The  charge  that  he  had  opposed  its  adop 
tion  had  no  foundation.  Though  jealous  for  the  State  and  for 
the  integrity  of  its  powers,  no  man  appreciated  better  than  he 
the  urgent  need  of  a  general  government  of  greater  power  and 
more  compact  form  than  the  slipshod  Congress  of  Revolu 
tionary  and  post-Revolutionary  days. 

Jefferson  did  not  confine  his  stay  to  Paris.  In  the  second 
year  of  his  residence  abroad  he  crossed  the  channel  and  spent 
nearly  two  months' in  England,  chiefly  in  the  rural  districts.  In 
the  hope  that  the  waters  of  Aix  in  southern  France  would  build 
up  his  health,  which  had  been  depleted  by  the  breaking  of  his 
right  wrist,  he  journeyed  to  that  watering  place.  His  route 
carried  him  up  the  Seine  and  down  the  Saone  and  the  Rhone, 


*See  Navy,  page  316. 

tSee  Constitution,  page  167. 


38  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

and  the  journey  consumed  the  better  part  of  the  three  spring 
months  of  1787.  It  was  at  this  time  that  he  crossed  the  boun 
daries  of  Italy  and  went  as  far  as  Genoa,  In  the  next  year  he 
went,  by  engagement,  to  meet  Adams  at  Amsterdam,  and  when 
their  business  was  dispatched,  proceeded  up  the  Rhine  as  far 
as  Strassburg.  Everywhere  he  noted  the  people,  their  condi 
tion,  habits,  and  daily  occupations;  and  no  economic  question 
dependent  upon  soil,  climate,  or  products  escaped  his  eager 
inquiry.  While  in  Italy  he  found  an  excellent  species  of  rice. 
When  he  attempted  to  get  a  small  quantity  of  this  for  introduc 
tion  into  America,  he  found  its  exportation  was  forbidden  by 
law.  But  his  love  for  science  did  not  allow  him  to  be  baffled. 
He  purchased  a  sack  and  bribed  a  muleteer  to  smuggle  it  over 
the  borders. 

The  extremely  practical  character  of  his  travels  is  shown  in 
a  letter  to  General  Lafayette:  "In  the  great  cities  I  go  to  see 
what  travelers  think  alone  worthy  of  being  seen;  but  I  make 
a  job  of  it,  and  generally  gulp  it  down  in  a  day.  On  the  other 
hand,  I  am  never  satiated  with  rambling  through  the  fields  and 
farms,  examining  the  culture  and  cultivators  with  a  degree  of 
curiosity  which  makes  some  take  me  for  a  fool  and  others  to  be 
much  wiser  than  I  am.  *  *  *  I  think  you  have  not  made 
this  journey.  It  will  be  a  great  comfort  to*  you  to  know  from 
your  own  inspection  the  condition  of  all  the  provinces  of  your 
own  country.  This  is  perhaps  the  only  moment  of  your  life  in 
which  you  can  acquire  that  knowledge.  And  to  do  it  most 
effectually  you  must  be  absolutely  incognito.  *  *  *  You 
will  feel  a  sublime  pleasure  in  the  course  of  this  investigation, 
and  a  sublime  one  hereafter  when  you  shall  be  able  to  apply 
your  knowledge  to  the  softening  of  their  beds  or  the  throwing 
a  morsel  of  meat  into  their  kettle  of  vegetables." 

His  correspondence  is  full  of  the  freest  expressions  of  opinion 
on  all  he  saw  and  learned  in  Europe.  The  range  of  subjects 
treated,  the  number  of  letters,  and  the  length  ctf  most  of  them, 
are  little  short  of  marvelous,  and  bear  testimony  to  the  system 
and  to  the  unwearying  energy  with  which  he  worked.  To 
different  persons  he  sent  new  astronomical  discoveries  and  cal- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  39 

dilations;  he  described  improvements  in  musical  instruments; 
narrated  explorations  by  savants  into  the  domain  of  natural 
history;  sent  descriptions  of  specimens  of  architecture;  ex 
pressed  his  opinions  on  statues  and  paintings,  and  gave  faithful 
accounts  of  agriculture  and  mechanical  inventions. 

Political  and  social  conditions  in  every  country  and  district 
he  visited  found  in  him  the  shrewdest  observer,  and  the  most 
painstaking  recorder.  The  highest  tribute  that  can  be  paid  to 
the  correspondence  of  any  man  can  be  paid  to  that  of  Jefferson 
at  this  period.  Most  of  his  letters  are  fresh  and  readable  even  at 
this  day. 

Foreign  travel  taught  Jefferson  a  lesson  which  it  would  be 
well  if  all  American  travelers  could  learn.  He  was  quick  to  see 
the  excellences  of  other  countries,  though  not  less  quick  to  see 
their  shortcomings.  The  more  he  saw  of  other  countries,  the 
more  highly  he  appreciated  the  superiority  of  his  own.  He 
never  ceased  to  make  the  abuses  of  the  civilization  of  Europe, 
and  even  of  England,  a  text  from  which  to  preach  the  education 
of  the  masses  of  his  own  country.  This  spirit  was  especially 
characteristic  of  his  attitude  toward  France.  It  must  be  remem 
bered  that  he  saw  that  country  under  conditions  never  paral 
leled  in  the  history  of  the  world.  From  the  meeting  of  the 
Assembly  of  Notables,  in  February,  1787,  he  followed  step  by 
step  the  follies  and  defeats  of  the  Crown  and  Nobility,  until  he 
saw  armed  conflict  in  the  streets  of  Paris  and  the  fall  of  the 
Bastile.  In  his  Memoir,  thirty  years  later,  he  wrote  of  these 
events;  and  though  he  had  then  clearly  before  him  the  horrors 
to  which  they  subsequently  led,  yet  his  faith  was  not  shaken  in 
the  ultimate  good  to  humanity  that  resulted  from  the  Revo 
lution.* 

Notwithstanding  his  intense  interest  in  passing  affairs,  Jeffer 
son's  conduct  as  minister  was  most  discreet.  Though  his  house 
was  frequented  by  men  of  all  shades  of  opinion,  his  sense  of  the 
duties  of  an  Ambassador  did  not  suffer  him  to  meddle  in  any 
matter  which  concerned  merely  the  existing  institutions  of  the 


*See  French  Revolution,  page  220. 


40  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

country  to  which  he  had  been  sent.  It  might  at  first  seem 
that  an  important  exception  to  this  rule  of  conduct  would  have 
to  be  made  when  Jefferson's  relations  with  Lafayette  are  con 
sidered.  Lafayette's  perplexities  as  to  the  course  he  should 
pursue  grew  largely  out  of  the  sentiments  in  favor  of  popular 
movements  acquired  by  his  service  in  America,  and  they  natu 
rally  appealed  to  Jefferson's  deepest  sympathy.  He  allowed 
himself  to  be  drawn  into'  giving"  advice  by  letter  as  well  as  orally 
to  Lafayette  and  other  Constitutionalists,  on  the  proper  form 
into  which  the  new  government  of  France  should  be  thrown. 
Finally,  the  conflict  between  the  monarchy  and  the  popular 
party  assumed  most  unexpectedly  a  phase  which,  in  Jefferson's 
opinion,  justified  his  interposing  as  a  lover  of  human  liberty. 
"I  considered,"  he  says,  "a  successful  reformation  of  govern 
ment  in  France  as  insuring  a  general  reformation  through 
Europe,  and  the  resurrection,  to  a  new  life,  of  their  people  now 
ground  to  dust  by  the  abuses  of  the  governing  powers.  *  *  * 
I  urged,  most  strenuously,  an  immediate  compromise."  He 
reduced  his  ideas  to<  definite  form  in  the  shape  of  a  Charter  of 
Rights,  to  be  signed  by  the  King  and  every  member  of  the 
three  orders  of  the  Assembly.  This  instrument  he  sent  to  M. 
de  St.  Etienne,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Third  Estate,  and  a 
close  friend  of  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette.  It  was  not  adopted, 
but  it  led  to  Jefferson's  being  requested  to  attend  and  assist 
in  the  deliberations  of  the  committee  appointed  to  draft  a  Con 
stitution.  Jefferson  was  always  ready  to  draw  up  a  Constitution, 
but  on  this  occasion  his  great  good  sense  asserted  itself.  He 
excused  himself  from  complying  with  this  request,  but  he  did 
receive  at  his  own  house  "a  number,"  to>  give  his  own  words, 
"of  leading  patriots  of  honest  but  differing  opinions,  sensible  of 
the  necessity  of  effecting  a  condition  by  mutual  sacrifices,  know 
ing  each  other,  and  not  afraid,  therefore,  to  unbosom  themselves 
mutually."  The  residence  of  the  American  minister  was  cer 
tainly  not  the  place  at  which  the  legislators  of  France  should 
meet,  and  Jefferson  was  quick  to  recognize  the  fact.  His  own 
words  tell  us  how  he  counteracted  his  indiscretion.  "Duties  of 
exculpation  were  now  incumbent  on  me.  I  waited  on  Count 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  41 

Montmorin  the  next  morning,  and  explained  to  him  with  truth 
and  candor  how  it  had  happened  that  my  house  had  been  made 
the  scene  of  conferences  of  such  a  character.  He  told  me  he 
already  knew  everything  which  had  passed,  that  so  far  from 
taking  umbrage  at  the  use  made  of  my  house  on  that  occasion, 
he  earnestly  wished  I  would  habitually  assist  at  such  confer 
ences,  being  sure  I  should  be  useful  in  moderating  the  warmer 
spirits,  and  promoting  a  wholesome  and  practicable  reformation 
only." 

In  the  autumn  of  1788  Jefferson,  had  asked  for  a  leave  of 
absence  for  six  months.  He  wished  to  return  to  America,  where 
his  private  affairs  demanded  his  attention.  He  felt  also  that  his 
daughters  should  be  placed  amid  the  surroundings  in  which 
their  lives  were  to  be  passed.  Legitimate  ambition,  also,  may 
have  had  much  to  do*  with  his  wish  to  look  again  upon  the 
current  of  home  politics.  It  was,  however,  to  be  only  a  look, 
for  he  left  France  with  the  intention  of  being  absent  no  longer 
than  the  time  specified.  His  request  was  granted,  and  in 
October,  1789,  he  set  sail  for  America.  Two  months  later  he 
reached  MonticellO',  after  an  absence  of  five  years. 

JEFFERSON    AS    SECRETARY    OF    STATE. 

On  Jefferson's  arrival  in  America  he  found  awaiting  him 
from  President  Washington  an  offer  of  the  Secretaryship  of 
State.  For  some  months  he  hesitated  to  accept  it,  nor  was  this 
hesitation  feigned.  He  was  by  no  means  insensible  to  the  honor 
paid  him,  and  his  deep  reverence  for  Washington  moved  him  to 
immediate  acceptance.  There  were,  however,  deterrent  reasons 
not  to  be  passed  over  lightly.  He  had  acquired  skill  and  self- 
confidence  in  the  duties  of  Ambassador  to  France;  and,  above 
all  things,  his  ardent  wish  was  to  follow  as  a  spectator  the  course 
of  the  French  Revolution.  To  accept  the  office  now  tendered 
him  would  put  upon  him  more  onerous  duties,  and  he  had  real 
apprehensions  of  his  lack  of  familiarity  with  the  routine  duties 
required.  Mr.  Madison,  at  the  President's  request,  visited  him, 
and  by  his  representations  re-enforced  Washington's  appeals. 


42  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

Jefferson  yielded  to  their  combined  wishes,  and  in  March,  1790, 
arrived  in  New  York  City,  then  the  seat  of  government,  to  enter 
upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties. 

The  colleagues  whom  he  found  already  serving  in  the  Cabinet 
were  Alexander  Hamilton  of  New  York,  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury;  Henry  Knox  of  Massachusetts,  Secretary  of  War;  and 
Edmund  Randolph  of  Virginia,  Attorney-General. 

In  vigor  of  intellect,  self-confidence,  and  experience  in  public 
affairs,  Jefferson  immediately  took  his  place  by  the  side  of  Ham 
ilton.  These  two  became  the  dominant  figures  of  the  Cabinet, 
the  other  two  members  merely  reflecting  their  views.  They 
differed  radically  in  their  ideas  of  finance,  of  government,*  and 
even  of  the  constitution  of  society.  That  Washington  should 
bring  them  together  as  his  official  advisers  excited  no1  suspicion 
that  their  lack  of  harmony  might  interfere  with  their  successful 
co-operation.  His  cherished  wish  was  to  obviate  factional  strife 
by  giving  representation  to  the  diverse  political  elements.  The 
idea,  though  afterwards  found  impossible  to  realize,  was  typical 
of  his  moral  grandeur. 

Hamilton  and  Jefferson  now  met  personally  for  the  first  time. 
Their  relations  in.  the  beginning  were  pleasant,  for  each  was 
disposed  to  look  upon  the  other  without  prejudice.  Each  was 
genial  in  temper  and  manners,  frank,  and  not  given  to  duplicity. 
Their  outward  friendliness  lasted  longer  than  would  have  been 
the  case  had  not  circumstances  delayed  the  occasion  of  their 
first  decided  difference.  While  the  President,  on  general  ques 
tions,  took  the  opinion  of  the  entire  Cabinet,  on  questions  which 
pertained  especially  to<  one  department,  he  consulted  only  the 
head  of  that  department.  Questions  of  finance,  upon  which 
Jefferson  and  Hamilton  would  soonest  have  differed,  were 
especially  subject  to  this  rule.  The  Funding  Bill,  which  con 
cerned  the  payment  of  Revolutionary  securities,  had  been  passed 
by  Congress*  before  Jefferson  entered  the;  Cabinet.  Its  logical 
successor,  the  Assumption  Bill,f  upon  which  Congress  was 
engaged  when  he  entered  the  Cabinet,  was  regarded  as  belong- 

*See  Hamilton,  page  238. 
tSee  Assumption,  page  142. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  43 

ing  distinctively  to  the  Department  of  the  Treasury,  as  was  the 
Impost  and  Excise  Bill  which  was  necessary  to  the  carrying  out 
of  these  financial  measures.  Jefferson's  opposition  to  them  was 
well  known  at  the  time,  and  was  freely  expressed  in  his  writings, 
but  they  were  not  made  subjects  of  Cabinet  discussions.  In 
January,  1791,  the  Bill  for  a  United  States  Bank*  came  up  for 
the  President's  signature.  Washington  regarded  it  as  of  such 
general  importance  that  he  asked  the  opinion  of  every  member 
of  his  Cabinet  individually.  Here  occurred  the  first  serious 
disagreement  between  Hamilton  and  Jefferson. 

The  Bill,  in  its  conception,  was  Hamilton's.  Knox  joined  in 
urging  the  President  to  sign  it.  Jefferson  and  Randolph,  on  the 
other  hand,  pronounced  unconstitutional  even  the  charter  upon 
which  it  was  based.  Though  the  President  finally  signed  it, 
there  was  no  change  in  his  cordial  relations  with  Jefferson, 
Indeed,  this  Bill  has  for  us  a  greater  significance  than  merely 
personal  difference  between  heads  of  departments  could  give  it. 
It  marked  the  first  clear  division  of  the  country  into  political 
parties. 

Upon  the  personal  relations  of  Hamilton  and  Jefferson,  much 
misconception  has  prevailed;  and  this  has  been  exaggerated  by 
the  extreme  bitterness  between  their  respective  partisans.  Jef 
ferson's  side  is  set  forth  in  the  diary  begun  by  him  in  August, 
1791,  which  is  commonly  known  as  the  "Anas."  This  covers 
the  entire  period  of  his  secretaryship,  and  contains  much  that  is 
historically  valuable,  but  the  purpose  that  palpably  dominates 
the  whole  is  to  keep  a  record  of  Hamilton's  actions  and  expres 
sions,  and  this  often  leads  Jefferson,  into  a  recital  of  mere  trivi 
alities  and  gossip.  Jefferson  counted  upon  this  diary  to  furnish 
campaign  material  for  combatting  what  he  always  maintained 
to  be  Hamilton's  monarchical  designs  upon  the  government. 
He  held  that  Hamilton  was  the  head  and  front  of  a  monarchical 
party — one  which  l^e  claimed,  on  his  arrival  in  New  York  City, 
was  not  to  be  lightly  esteemed  either  in  numbers  or  in  influence. 
At  first  many  of  the  entries  in  the  "Anas"  were  w*ritten  down 


*See  Bank,  National,  page  145. 


44  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

days  or  weeks  after  the  events  recorded;  but  they  grew  more 
exact  in  substance  and  date,  as  their  author  became  more  inimi 
cal  to  Hamilton  or  more  convinced  that  his  designs  were 
nefarious.  A  proof  of  the  purpose  of  the  "Anas"  may  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  they  virtually  ceased  with  Hamilton's  death. 
Jefferson  himself  carefully  reviewed  them  in  1818,  and  wrote  a 
long  and  vigorous  preface  to  them,  embodying  knowledge  ac 
quired  since  their  writing;  and  the,  whole  was  left  among  his 
important  papers  with  the  evident  intention  that  they  should  be 
given  to  the  world.  That  such  questionable  material  should  be 
given  to  the  world  after  every  pretext  for  its  publication  had 
passed  away,  raised  a  cry  of  indignation  which  the  best  efforts 
of  Jefferson's  most  partial  biographers  have  not  succeeded  in 
silencing. 

Another  reason  which  kept  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  within  the 
bounds  of  personal  decorum  was  the  profound  reverence  which 
each  felt  for  the  President,*  and  this  continued  operative  long 
after  each  had  come  to  know  the  real  feelings  of  the  other. 
In  July,  1792,  however,  after  more  than  two  years  of  inter 
course,  a  matter  arose  involving  the  direct  issue  of  personal 
veracity.  In  its  origin  the  trouble  was  ostensibly  of  an  official 
character.  A  peculiar  train  of  circumstances  had  led  up  to  it. 
Early  in  1791  Jefferson  had  offered  to>  Philip  Freneau,  the  lead 
ing  Republican  editor  of  the  country,  the  post  of  clerk  for  foreign 
languages  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  Jefferson  was 
at  the  time  personally  unacquainted  with  him,  but  he  knew  his 
power  as  a  publicist  and  wanted  the  influence  of  his  pen  for 
campaign  purposes.  That  Jefferson  from  the  beginning  con 
templated  Freneau's  editing  a  paper  is  shown  by  the  language 
of  the  letter  offering  him  the  appointment.  'The  salary,  indeed, 
is  very  low,  being  but  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  but  also  it 
gives  so  little  to  do  as  not  to  interfere  with  any  calling  the 
person  may  choose  which  would  not  absent  him  from  the  seat  of 
government."  And  again,  his  personal  interest  in  Freneau's 
acceptance  was  candidly  stated  in  a  letter  to  Madison.  Jefferson 


*See  Washington,  page  421. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  45 

was  under  the  impression  that  Freneau  had  declined.  "I  am 
sincerely  sorry.  *  *  *  I  should  have  given  him  the  perusal 
of  all  my  letters  of  foreign  intelligence  and  all  foreign  news 
papers,  the  publication  of  all  proclamations  and  other  public 
notices  within  my  department,  and  the  printing  of  the  laws 
which,  added  to  his  salary,  would  have  been  a  considerable 
aid." 

Freneau*  did,  however,  finally  accept,  though  not  without 
hesitation,  and  coming  to  Philadelphia,  then  the  seat  of  govern 
ment,  established  his  paper,  the  National  Gazette.  He  devoted 
himself  to  lashing  unmercifully  Hamilton's  policy  of  finance  and 
the  monarchical  and  aristocratic  tendencies  of  the  ultra-Feder 
alist  school.  It  is  truly  remarkable  that  Hamilton  should  so 
long  have  refrained  from  replying.  In  July,  1792,  however,  he 
could  no  longer  restrain  himself.  Over  an  assumed  signature, 
he  assailed  Freneau  in  the  Federalist  organ,  Fenno's  Gazette  of 
the  United  States. 

While  the  assault  was  in  formal  terms  directed  against 
Freneau,  it  was  but  too  evident  that  its  real  animus  was  against 
Jefferson.  The  first  of  the  attacks  was  a  short  article  asking,  in 
all  pretended  innocence,  whether  the  editor  of  the  National 
Gazette  received  a  salary  for  translation  or  for  publications,  "the 
design  of  which  was  to  vilify  those  to  whom  the  voice  of  the 
people  had  committed  the  administration  of  our  public  affairs, 
to  oppose  the  measures  of  government  and  by  false  insinuations 
to  disturb  the  public  peace."  The  second  article  was  more  bold 
and  charged  explicitly  that  Freneau's  clerkship  was  merely  a 
subterfuge,  that  not  only  had  Jefferson  employed  the  patronage 
of  public  office  to  the  end  above,  hinted  at,  but  that  he  himself 
frequently  contributed  to  the  paper  articles  of  a  virulent  char 
acter.  The  assaults  upon  Freneau  were  instantly  answered  by 
eager  partisans,  though,  strange  to  say,  in  the  columns  of  his 
own  paper  they  were  practically  ignored.  He  contented  himself 
with  taking  an  affidavit  before  the  Mayor  of  Philadelphia  to  the 
effect  that  not  a  line  was  ever  directly  or  indirectly  written, 


*See  Freneau,  page  228. 


46  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

dictated  or  composed  for  the  National  Gazette  by  Mr.  Jefferson, 
and  that  the  latter  had  no  interest  of  any  kind  in  the  paper. 
Hamilton  totally  disregarded  the  oath  but  could  produce  no 
proof  whatever  for  his  charges,  and  he  was  driven  to  the  gener 
ality  that  "presumptive  facts  and  circumstances  must  afford  the 
evidence." 

As  for  the  portions  of  the  attack  that  concerned  Jefferson,  it 
was  not  until  September  that  he  took  any  public  notice  of  them, 
for  he  was  in  Virginia  while  they  continued,  probably  designing 
geometrical  wheel-barrows  and  mould-boards  of  least  resistance. 

When  he  did  finally  take  notice  of  them  it  was  in  answer  to 
an  appeal  from  the  President  himself,  who-  at  the  same  time 
forwarded  an  appeal  of  like  tenor  to  Hamilton.  To  both  par 
ties  Washington  emphasized  the  disastrous  results  both  at  home 
and  abroad  of  dissensions  in  his  Cabinet,  and  he  implored  that 
there  might  be  "mutual  forbearance  and  temporizing  yielding 
on  all  sides."  Jefferson  replied  in  a  letter  of  great  length  and 
vigor,  setting  forth  his  "opinions  against  the  views  of  Colonel 
Hamilton,"  and  entering  minutely  into  a  discussion  of  Hamil 
ton's  charges  against  him.  These  Jefferson  arranged  under 
three  heads:  "First,  with  having  w-ritten  letters  from  Europe 
to  my  friends  to  oppose  the  present  constitution  while  depend 
ing.  Second,  with  a  desire  of  not  paying  the  public  debt. 
Third,  with  setting  up  a  paper  to  decry  and  slander  the  govern 
ment."  He  emphatically  denied  each  charge;  but  to  the  third 
he  devoted  the  bulk  of  the  letter,  solemnly  protesting  that  he 
had  nothing  to  do>  with  the  management  of  Freneau's  paper. 

Hamilton's  answer  to  Washington,  of  the  same  date  as  Jef 
ferson's,  was  couched  in  more  peaceful  language,  but  in  six 
days  from  that  time  he  began  upon  Jefferson  a  second  series 
of  attacks,  and  continued  them  for  four  succeeding  months. 
These  attacks  were  direct  and  did  not  involve  Freneau  at  all. 
His  failure,  however,  to  overthrow  Freneau  rendered  totally 
impotent  the  attack  upon  Jefferson,  and  when  Freneau  brought 
out  the  fact  that  Hamilton  himself  was  doing  precisely  what  he 
had  accused  Jefferson  of  doing — namely,  supporting  a  partisan 


OF   THOMAS    JEFFERSON  47 

paper  by  means  of  the  patronage  of  his  department — the  rest  of 
Hamilton's  charges  fell  harmless  to  the  ground. 

The  question  of  the  ethics  involved  in  Jefferson's  connection 
with  Freneau  may  safely  be  left  an  open  one;  but  it  may  be 
remarked  that,  from  that  day  to  the  present,  many  influential 
editors  have  fared  much  better  in  the  matter  of  Federal  appoint 
ments  than  did  Freneau.  However,  it  may  be  questioned  if  any 
editor  since  Freneau  has  ever  established  a  paper  at  the  instiga 
tion  of  a  Cabinet  official.  It  is  perhaps  significant  that  we  look 
in  vain  in  Jefferson's  "Anas"  for  any  mention  of  overtures  to 
Freneau  or  of  this  controversy. 

The  ultimate  effect  of  the  quarrel  upon  the  prestige  of  Hamr 
ilton,  both  personally  and  politically,  was  fatal.  "He  lost,"  says 
Parton,  "something  which  is  of  no  value  to  an  anonymous 
writer  in  a  Presidential  campaign,  but  it  is  of  immense  value 
to  a  public  man — weight."  Apart  from  the  effect  upon  Hamil 
ton,  the  effect  upon  the  future  of  our  country  was  of  the  greatest 
importance.  The  triumph  of  Hamilton  meant  a  strong  central 
government  administered  in  the  English  spirit,  while  that  of 
Jefferson  meant  a  light  and  easy  central  government  that  would 
respond  readily  to  the  will  of  the  populace;  and  the  Freneau 
matter  is  of  the  utmost  importance  as  it  led  the  way  to  a 
decisive  struggle  before  the  tribunal  of  popular  opinion. 

Jefferson's  Cabinet  opinions  and  his  recommendations  and 
reports  submitted  to  the  House  of  Representatives  concerned 
both  domestic  and  foreign  affairs  and  embraced  a  large  range 
of  subjects.  The  "Report  on  the  Privileges  and  Restrictions 
of  the  Commerce  of  the  United  States  in  Foreign  Countries'r 
deserves  especial  notice.  It  was  an  elaboration  of  a  tabulated 
,  statement  previously  made  of  commercial  relations  with  the 
British  and  French  dominions.  It  enters  clearly  but  succinctly 
into  the  subject  of  our  imports  from  Spain,  Portugal,  France, 
Great  Britain,  the  United  Netherlands,  Denmark,  and  Sweden. 
It  sets  forth  what  commercial  articles  of  ours  were  received 
by  them,  and  on  what  terms.  Universal  free  trade,  Jefferson 
held,  is  as  a  principle  most  advantageous;  but  so  long  as  foreign 
restrictions  on  our  commerce  and  carrying  trade  continued, 


48  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

they  might  best  be  counteracted  by  a  policy  of  liberal  reciproc 
ity.  In  case  any  nation  should  refuse  to  enter  into  this  policy, 
he  proposes  various  methods  of  retaliation  for  discriminating 
restrictions.  Throughout  the  paper  he  loses  no  opportunity 
of  emphasizing  Great  Britain's  rigorous  attitude  towards  our 
commerce  in  contrast  with  the  fair  and  equal  principles  of  trade 
proposed  by  France.  This  paper  contained  the  germs  of  all 
subsequent  party  discussion  and  divisions  on  the  tariff. 

To  Jefferson  and  his  contemporaries  foreign  relations  were  of 
superlative  importance.  And  this  is  not  strange.  The  young 
nation  was  just  taking  its  place  among  hostile,  or,  at  best,  indif 
ferent  rivals.  The  diplomatic  problems  and  issues  of  that  day — 
even  those  which  seemed  most  difficult  and  threatening — have 
passed  completely  away  and  left  but  little  trace  on  our  present 
national  life.  But  the  student  of  Jefferson's  political  activity 
must  attempt  at  least  to  give  them  that  prominence  which  they 
held  in  his  mind.  They  were  the  more  intense  for  being  nar 
rowed  down  to  three  countries  alone — Spain,  England  and 
France. 

Jefferson's  business  with  Spain  took  the  form  of  instructions 
to  our  Commissioners  at  Madrid.  These  discussed  the  troubles 
with  the  Indian  tribes  on  the  southern  frontier,  due  largely 
to  Spanish  instigation,  and  the  disputes  over  the  boundaries 
and  commerce.  From  this  period  dates  the  beginning  of  the 
agitation  for  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  All  these 
subjects  were  destined  later  to  figure  extensively  in  the  nego 
tiations  connected  with  the  Louisiana  purchase. 

Since  the  ratification  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  England's*  atti 
tude  towards  her  former  colonies  had  been  uniformly  indifferent, 
even  contemptuous.  Her  unwillingness  to<  show  a  conciliatory 
spirit  on  any  point  at  issue  became  more  and  more  marked 
until,  in  November,  1790,  certain  representations  from  Mr. 
Morris,  our  agent  in  England,  rendered  it,  in  Jefferson's  opinion, 
"dishonorable  to  the  United  States,  useless  and  even  injurious, 
to  renew  the  proposition  for  a  treaty  of  commerce,  or  for  the 


*See  England,  page  202. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  49 

exchange  of  a  Minister."  These  recommendations,  as  well  as 
Jefferson's  further  one,  that  Mr.  Morris'  agency  be  discontin 
ued,  received  the  unanimous  endorsement  of  the  Cabinet.  There 
were,  in  consequence,  no  further  communications  between  the 
two  countries  until  a  more  liberal  government  sent  representa 
tives  to  the  United  States  in  the  autumn  of  1791,  nearly  eight 
years  after  peace  had  been  declared. 

The  new  envoy,  Mr.  Hammond,  had  served  his  country  in 
Paris  at  the  time  Jefferson  was  stationed  there,  and  their  per 
sonal  acquaintance  now  brought  about  a  courtesy  of  intercourse 
on  both  sides.  Hammond  communicated  to  Jefferson  his  pow 
ers  to  negotiate,  but  not  to  conclude,  a  treaty  of  commerce; 
and  in  December  there  commenced  between  them  an  official 
correspondence  whose  import  was  the  mutual  charge  of  infrac 
tions  of  the  existing  treaty.  It  culminated  May,  1792,  in  what 
may  be  regarded  as  Jefferson's  ablest  State  paper  on  Foreign 
Relations.  The  document  is  very  long  and  takes  up  in  detail 
every  allegation  of  Hammond,  the  payments  of  debts  owed  to 
England,  and  England's  violation  of  her  promise  to  surrender, 
"with  all  convenient  speed,"  certain  parts  of  the  American 
frontier.  The  paper,  however,  had  no  important  effect  upon 
the  actions  of  England. 

We  have  seen  Jefferson's  opinion  of  the  friendship  entertained 
by  France  for  America.  For  many  years  after  Yorktown,  what 
soever  differences  arose  concerned  merely  commercial  relations 
and  were  insignificant.  Nor  were  these  friendly  relations  dis 
turbed,  even  when,  in  November,  1792,  Washington's  Cabinet 
decided  it  expedient  to  suspend  payment  on  the  French  debt. 
The  king  had  been  dethroned  and  the  affairs  of  the  nation 
seemed  to  the  outside  world  to  be  in  a  state  of  chaos;  but  by 
February,  1793,  Washington  assured  himself  that  the  Revo 
lution  was  a  reality,  and  that  the  de-facto  government  must  be 
recognized  and  its  friendship  cultivated.  Payments  on  the  debt 
were  then  resumed.  So  far  there  was  no  serious  division  in 
the  Cabinet;  but  the  events  which  now  came  heralded  by  every 
ship  were  more  and  more  repellent  to  the  conservative  sense  of 
the  country.  In  January  the  king  had  been  beheaded;  in  March 


50  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

began  the  horrible  excesses  in  the  territory  of  La  Vendee,  and 
in  April,  1793,  came  the  announcement  that  the  French  Re 
public  had  declared  war  against  England  and  had  commis 
sioned  to  the  United  States  a  new  Minister  who  represented  the 
extreme  type  of  the  revolutionary  movement. 

The  partiality  of  the  Federalists  for  England  and  of  the 
Republicans  for  France  now  clearly  announced  itself  through 
the  entire  country.  The  Republicans  recognized  beneath  the 
atrocities  of  the  movement  a  contest  between  the  monocratic 
and  the  democratic  principles  of  government;  and  the  sym 
pathies  of  a  large  part  of  them  were  not  to>  be  extinguished 
because  of  excesses  which  they  regarded  as  inevitable  in  the 
transition  from  despotism  to  freedom.  It  was  a  political  neces 
sity  that  as  between  England  and  France  the  United  States 
should  remain  neutral,  and  Washington  was  fully  alive  to  the 
fact.  He  hastened  from  Mount  Vernon  and  laid  before  his  Cab 
inet  a  list  of  questions  for  immediate  settlement.  Jefferson  thus 
described  the  consultation: 

'The  first  question,  whether  we  should  receive  the  French 
Minister,  Genet,  was  proposed,  and  we  agreed  unanimously 
that  he  should  be  received;  Hamilton  at  the  same  time  express 
ing  his  great  regret  that  any  incident  had  happened  which 
should  oblige  us  to  recognize  the  government.  The  next  ques 
tion  was,  whether  he  should  be  received  absolutely,  or  with 
qualifications.  Knox  submitted  at  once  to  Hamilton's  opinion 
that  we  ought  to  declare  the  treaty  void.  I  was  clear  it  re 
mained  valid.  Randolph  declared  himself  of  the  same  opinion, 
but  agreed  to  take  further  time  to  consider.  We  determined 
unanimously  the  last  question,  that  Congress  should  not  be 
called. 

"On  May  i6th  the  President  told  me  he  had  never  a  doubt 
about  the  validity  of  the  treaty,  but  that  since  the  question  had 
been  suggested  he  thought  it  ought  to  be  considered;  that  this 
being  done,  I  might  now  issue  passports  to  seagoing  vessels 
in  the  form  prescribed  by  the  French  treaty." 

The  Cabinet  agreed  unanimously  that  the  President  should 
issue  a  proclamation  of  neutrality.  This  proclamation  drew 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  51 

down  on  Washington  the  vituperation  of  the  Republican  papers 
of  the  country.  The  voice  of  Freneau  was  the  loudest  of  all. 
He  did  not  stop  short  of  insolence  to  Washington  personally, 
and  his  conduct  gave  rise  to  the  first  difference  recorded  be 
tween  Washington  and  Jefferson. 

In  the  meantime  Genet*  had  landed  at  Charleston  and  was 
acting  in  utter  disregard  of  the  prevailing  neutrality  laws.  Be 
fore  leaving  Charleston,  he  had  commissioned  two  privateers 
and  granted  powers  to*  the  consuls  of  France  in  America  to 
try,  condemn  and  sell  captured  prizes.  He  then  proceeded  over 
land  to  Philadelphia,  the  recipient  of  every  honor  in  the  towns 
through  which  he  passed. 

Jefferson  in  a  letter  to  Monroe  thus  described  the  state  of 
popular  feeling:  "The  war  between  France  and  England  seems 
to  be  pi  educing  an  effect  not  contemplated.  All  the  old 
spirit  of  1776  rekindling  the  newspapers  from  Boston  to  Charles 
ton  proves  this,  and  even  the  Monocrat  papers  are  obliged 
to  publish  the  most  furious  philippics  against  England.  A 
French  frigate  took  a  British  prize  off  the  Capes  of  Dela 
ware,  the  other  day,  and  sent  her  up  here.  Upon  coming  in 
sight,  thousands  and  thousands  of  the  yeomanry  of  the  city 
crowded  and  covered  the  wharfs.  Never  before  was  such  a 
crowd  seen  there,  and  when  the  British  colors  were  seen  re 
versed  and  the  French  flying  above  them,  they  burst  into 
peals  of  exultation.  I  wish  we  may  be  able  to  repress  the  spirit 
of  the  people  within  the  limits  of  a  fair  neutrality." 

A  week  later  he  indicated  to  Madison  the  cleavage  of  public 
sentiment:  "On  the  one  side,  i.  The  fashionable  circles  of 
Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston  and  Charleston  (Natural  Aris 
tocrats).  2.  Merchants  trading  on  British  capital.  3.  Paper 
men.  (All  the  old  Tories  are  found  in  some  one  of  the  three 
descriptions.)  On  the  other  side,  are  I.  Merchants  trading  on 
their  capital.  2.  Irish  merchants.  3.  Tradesmen,  mechanics, 
farmers,  and  every  other  description  of  our  citizens." 

Genet  arrived  in  Philadelphia  on  May  i6th,  and  was  received 


'See  Genet,  page  230. 


52  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

by  Washington  with  frankness  and  with  expressions  of  a  sincere 
and  cordial  regard  for  his  nation.  He  immediately  began  a  cor 
respondence  with  Jefferson,  the  tone  of  which  grew  more 
violent  as  each  unwarrantable  request  on  his  part  was  refused, 
or  each  cause  of  complaint  satisfactorily  explained.  Jefferson 
was  throughout  most  conciliatory;  but  he  saw  the  unmistakable 
trend  of  Genet's  utterances.  He  expressed  his  apprehension 
to  Monroe:  "I  do  not  augur  well  of  the  mode  of  conduct 
of  the  new  French  Minister;  I  fear  he  will  enlarge  the  evils  of 
those  disaffected  to  his  country.  I  am  doing  everything  in  my 
power  to  moderate  the  impetuosity  of  his  movements,  and  to 
destroy  the  dangerous  opinions  which  have  been  excited  in  him 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States  will  disavow  the  acts  of  their 
government,  and  that  he  has  an  appeal  from  the  Executive 
to  Congress  and  from  both  to  the  people." 

The  culmination  of  Genet's  indiscretion  was  reached  late  in 
June  when  he  repaired  the  Little  Sarah,  a  capture  of  the  Am 
buscade,  increased  her  armament,  and  commissioned  her  from 
Philadelphia  under  the  name  of  Little  Democrat.  Hamilton 
was  the  first  to  be  apprised  of  the  matter.  He  immediately  com 
municated  his  information  to  Jefferson  and  Knox,  Washington 
and  Randolph  being  absent  in  Virginia.  It  was  unanimously 
agreed  to  ask  the  aid  of  the  State  authorities  of  Pennsylvania; 
and  these  immediately  entered  into  negotiations  with  Genet. 
Jefferson  himself  also  sought  a  personal  interview  with  him, 
and  found  him  much  excited  at  what  he  considered  the  dis 
crimination  of  our  government  against  his  country.  Jeffer 
son  succeeded  in  calming  him,  and  pressed  him  to  detain  the 
Little  Democrat  until  the  President  should  return.  Jefferson's 
sympathies*  did  not  blind  him  to  the  serious  nature  of  the 
questions  that  would  arise  if  the  vessel  should  sail;  but  they  ren 
dered  him,  one  is  impelled  to  think,  too  easily  assured  that, 
"though  she  was  to  fall  somewhere  down  the  river,  she  would 
not  sail."  Hamilton  and  Knox  were  for  erecting  a  battery, 
and,  until  the  President  could  be  heard  from,  for  forcibly  de- 

*See  France  and  England,  page  217. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  53 

taining  the  ship.  But  Jefferson  dissented  with  strong  feeling, 
and  as  the  President  had  left  directions  that  action  on  any 
matter  should  be  taken  only  on  the  unanimous  decision  of  the 
Cabinet,  the  matter  was  left  in  suspense. 

Jefferson's  position  was  one  of  extreme  delicacy.  His  sym 
pathies  with  France  were  part  of  his  mental  life,  and  they  were 
accentuated  by  the  vivid  remembrance  of  the  hospitality  and 
kindly  treatment  he  received  fro-m  that  nation.  His  private 
wishes  were  undoubtedly  that  his  country  should  recognize  the 
many  claims  France  had  upon  our  gratitude;  but  he  saw  too 
clearly  that  such  a  course  would  bring  disaster  upon  the  infant 
country.  He  sincerely  acquiesced,  therefore,  in  Washington's 
policy  of  strict  neutrality.  So*  closely  indeed  did  he  follow  the 
line  of  duty  that  Judge  Marshall  afterwards  wrote  of  him: 
"The  publication  of  his  correspondence  with  Genet  dissipated 
much  of  the  prejudice  which  had  been  excited  against  him." 

None  the  less,  however,  did  the  conduct  of  Genet  fill  Jeffer 
son  with  chagrin  and  with  apprehension  that  it  would  put  weap 
ons  in  the  hands  of  the  Federalists.  He  wrote  to>  Monroe: 
"I  fear  the  disgust  of  France  is  inevitable.  We  shall  be  to 
blame  in  part.  But  the  Minister  much  more  so*.  His  conduct 
is  indefensible  by  the  most  furious  Jacobin.  I  only  wish  our 
countrymen  may  distinguish  between  him  and  his  nation,  and, 
if  the  case  should  ever  be  laid  before  them,  may  not  suffer 
their  affection  to  the  nation  to  be  diminished.  Hamilton, 
sensible  of  the  advantage  they  have  got,  is  urging  an  appeal 
by  the  government  to  the  people.  Such  an  explosion  would 
manifestly  endanger  a  dissolution  of  the  friendship  between  the 
nations,  and  ought,  therefore,  to  be  deprecated  by  every  friend 
to  our  liberty;  and  no  one  but  an  enemy  to  it  would  wish  to 
avail  himself  of  the  indiscretions  of  an  individual  to<  compromit 
two  nations  esteeming  each  other  ardently.  It  will  prove  that 
the  agents  of  the  two  peoples  are  either  great  bunglers  or  great 
rascals,  when  they  cannot  preserve  that  peace  which  is  the  uni 
versal  wish  of  both." 

On  Washington's  return  to  Philadelphia,  he  found  the  papers 
in  the  case  of  the  Little  Democrat  marked  for  his  "instant 


54  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

attention."  Jefferson  had  retired  to  his  house  outside  the  city. 
Washington  dispatched  to  him  a  note  showing  an  irritation 
never  before  seen  in  him,  and  asking  his  immediate  presence. 
Jefferson  replied  in  one  of  equal  stiffness,  couched  in  the  third 
person,  a  mode  of  address  he  had  never  hitherto  used  towards 
Washington,  assigning  "a  fever  for  the  past  few  nights"  as  the 
cause  of  his  leaving  the  city,  and  promising  "that  nothing  but 
absolute  inability  would  prevent  his  being  in  town  to-morrow." 
Despite  this  personal  friction,  the  pacific  policy  advocated  by 
Jefferson  during  Washington's  absence  prevailed.  The  Cabinet 
decided  that  the  legal  questions  involved  should  be  referred 
"to  persons  learned  in  the  laws;"  and  the  British  Minister  was, 
in  addition,  informed  that  the  vessel  in  controversy  would  not 
depart  until  the  President's  determination  should  be  made 
known.* 

Genet's  intemperance  of  language  continued.  His  insolence 
reached  a  pitch  which  made  it  necessary  for  the  Cabinet  to 
take  up  the  question  of  dealing  with  him.  They  agreed  unani 
mously  that  the  French  government  should  be  requested  to  re 
call  him;  but  on  the  question  how  the  communication  should 
be  made,  there  was  the  usual  division  of  opinion.  Jefferson 
was  for  "expressing  that  desire  with  great  delicacy;  the  others 
were  for  peremptory  terms."  The  Cabinet  met  for  three 
successive  days.  Every  question  broached  called  forth  the 
warmest  opposition  from  the  one  faction  or  the  other.  Much, 
however,  was  accomplished  in  spite  of  the  incessant  wrangling. 
Genet  was  to  be  informed  that  his  recall  had  been  asked — a  vic 
tory  for  Hamilton;  but  no  appeal  was  to  be  made  to  the  people 
by  a  publication  of  the  Genet  correspondence — a  victory  for 
Jefferson.  In  general,  more  stringent  rules  were  unanimously 
adopted  for  the  maintenance  of  neutrality  between  the  belliger 
ents.  Jefferson  was  instructed  to  draw  up  a  letter  asking  the 
recall  of  Genet.  His  rough  draft  became,  without  a  change, 
the  official  communication  of  the  Cabinet.  It  takes  high  rank 


*  The  Little  Democrat  did,  however,  put  to  sea  two  days  later,  in  disre 
gard  of  the  assurance  Jefferson  claimed  to  have  received  from  Genet. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  55 

among  his  foreign  dispatches,  for  in  it  he  treated  a  most  delicate 
subject  in  a  firm  and  unyielding  and  yet  conciliatory  spirit.  As 
had  been  agreed  upon,  a  copy  was  sent  to  Genet  himself,  and 
Jefferson  accompanied  it  with  an  explanatory  note  of  most  con 
siderate  tone. 

This,  as  far  as  it  concerned  Jefferson,  closed  the  Genet  inci 
dent,  with  the  exception  of  one  further  communication.  Genet 
had  impudently  sent  to  the  President  his  instructions,  implying 
his  desire  that  they  should  be  laid  before  Congress.  Jefferson 
returned  them,  plainly  informing  him  that  the  communications 
which  were  to  pass  between  the  Executive  and  Legislative 
branches  could  not  be  a  subject  for  his  interference.  This  was 
Jefferson's  last  official  act  as  Secretary  of  State. 

It  had  for  nearly  two  years  been  Jefferson's  purpose  to  retire 
from  public  life.  At  first,  he  set  as  the  date  the  end  of  Wash 
ington's  first  term,  but  at  each  suggestion  of  his  purpose  to  with 
draw,  Washington  had,  by  pleading  considerations  of  the  pub 
lic  good  as  well  as  his  own  personal  desires,  prevailed  upon 
him  to  remain.  This  he  had  consented  with  some  reluctance 
to  do  until  the  Freneau  matter,  with  the  personal  bitterness 
it  engendered  in  the  Cabinet,  confirmed  Jefferson's  disinclina 
tion  to  a  position  which  called  for  daily  contest  with  an  aggres 
sive  and  untiring  opponent.  Considerations  of  personal  pride, 
however,  arrested  his  carrying  out  his  purpose.  In  January, 
1793,  he  wrote  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Randolph:  "My  operations 
at  Monticello  had  been  all  made  to  bear  upon  the  close  of  this 
session  of  Congress;  my  mind  was  fixed  on  it  with  a  fondness 
which  was  extreme,  the  purpose  firmly  declared  to  the  President 
when  I  became  assailed  from  all  quarters  with  a  variety  of 
objections.  Among  these  it  was  urged  that  my  retiring,  just 
when  I  had  been  attacked  in  the  public  papers,  would  injure  me 
in  the  eyes  of  the  public,  who  would  suppose  I  either  withdrew 
from  investigation,  or  because  I  had  not  a  tone  of  mind  sufficient 
to  meet  slander.  These  representations  have  for  some  weeks  past 
shaken  a  determination  which  I  thought  the  whole  world  could 
not  have  shaken."  Jefferson's  resolution  to  resign  was  not  again 
broached,  until  the  unpleasant  events  connected  with  the  Genet 


56  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

episode  hurried  him  on  to  a  resignation.  July  3ist  he  sent  to 
the  President  a  letter  in  which  a  decided  tone  of  bitterness  is 
to  be  discovered.  One  passage  will  suffice:  "At  the  close, 
therefore,  of  the  ensuing  month  of  September,  I  shall  beg  leave 
to  retire  to  scenes  of  greater  tranquillity,  from  those  which  I 
am  every  day  more  and  more  convinced  that  neither  my  talents, 
tone  of  mind,  nor  time  of  life  fit  me."  Jefferson  went  more 
fully  into  his  reasons:  "I  expressed  to  him  [Washington]  my 
excessive  repugnance  to  public  life,  the  particular  uneasiness 
of  my  situation  in  this  place  where  the  laws  of  society  oblige 
me  always  to  move  exactly  in  the  circles  which  I  know  to 
bear  me  peculiar  hatred,  that  is  to  say,  the  wealthy  aristocrats, 
the  merchants  closely  connected  with  England,  the  new  created 
paper  fortunes;  that  thus  surrounded,  my  words  were  caught, 
multiplied,  misconstrued,  and  even  fabricated  and  spread  abroad 
to  my  injury;  that  he  (Washington)  saw,  also,  that  there  was 
such  an  opposition  of  views  between  myself  and  another  part 
of  the  administration  as  to  render  it  peculiarly  unpleasing  and  to 
destroy  the  necessary  harmony."  At  the  further  solicitation  of 
the  President,  however,  Jefferson  agreed  to  continue  in  office 
through  December. 

On  December  3ist,  1793,  therefore,  Jefferson  finally  trans 
mitted  his  resignation,  couched  in  terms  of  the  warmest  cordial 
ity  and  profoundest  respect  towards  the  President.  He  re 
ceived  in  reply  a  letter  which  goes  far  towards  refuting  the 
idea  that  there  was  at  this  time  an  -alienation  between  Wash 
ington  and  Jefferson,  or  that  Jefferson  averted  an  approaching 
alienation  by  resigning.  No  stronger  .summary  of  Jefferson's 
service  in  the  Cabinet  can  be  given  than  Washington's  stately 
words  of  commendation  and  personal  regard: 
,  "Dear  Sir:  Since  it  has  been  impossible  to  prevail  upon  you  to 
forego  any  longer  the  indulgence  of  your  desire  for  private  life, 
the  event,  however  anxious  I  am  to  avert  it,  must  be  submitted 
to.  But  I  cannot  suffer  you  to  leave  your  station  without  assuring 
you  that  the  opinion  which  I  have  formed  of  your  integrity  and 
talents,  and  which  dictated  your  original  nomination,  has  been 
confirmed  by  the  fullest  experience,  and  that  both  have  been 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  57 

displayed  in  the  discharge  of  your  duty.  Let  a  conviction  of  my 
most  earnest  prayers  for  your  happiness  accompany  you  in 
your  retirement;  and  while  I  accept,  with  the  warmest  thanks, 
your  solicitude  for  my  welfare,  I  beg  you  to  believe  that  I  am, 
dear  sir,  Yours,  etc., 

George  Washington." 

RETIREMENT. 

In  January,  1794,  Jefferson  reached  Monticello  to  enjoy  a 
retirement*  which  he  intended  should  last  many  years.  He 
was  now  in  his  fifty-first  year,  and  he  imagined,  to  judge  from 
his  correspondence,  that  his  constitution  was  shattered  and 
that  he  had  become  an  old  man.  This  feeling  was  merely  the  re 
action  following  upon  his  withdrawal  from  the  severe  strain 
of  his  Cabinet  life;  but  it  served  to  enhance  the  sincerity  of 
his  protestations  of  contentment  with  his  new  environment. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  his  bodily  strength  was  that  of  a  much 
younger  man — the  result  of  his  temperate  and  regular  habits. 
A  few  months  found  him  completely  restored  to  health. 

His  domestic  life  had  in  it  much  to  erase  whatever  unpleasant 
recollections  he  retained  from  his  public  sendee.  Four  years 
before  his  elder  daughter,  Martha,  had  become  the  wife  of 
Thomas  Mann  Randolph,  a  distant  kinsman,  and  the  young 
couple  with  their  two  children  now  came  to  live  at  Monticello. 
Mrs.  Randolph  was  a  highly  accomplished  woman,  attractive 
in  manners  and  conversation,  endowed  with  unusual  good  sense, 
and  devoted  to  her  father.  His  younger  daughter,  Maria, 
now  in  her  seventeenth  year,  completed  the  circle.  She  had 
for  three  years  lived  with  her  father  in  Philadelphia.  She 
closely  resembled  her  mother  in  her  beauty  and  frailness  of 
health,  and  was  distinguished  among  all  of  her  acquaintances 
for  the  unselfishness  of  her  character. 

Jefferson's  life  was  now  of  the  quietest  description.  Though 
his  habit  of  letter-writing  was  practically  dropped  (during  the 


*See  Retirement,  page  369. 


58  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

year  1794  only  nine  letters  are  preserved  as  his  correspondence), 
yet  he  wrote  enough  to  acquaint  us  with  his  daily  occupations. 
To  his  late  colleague  and  successor  in  the  State  department, 
Edmund  Randolph,  he  wrote  the  first  letter  of  his  retirement. 
In  this  he  said:  "I  think  it  is  Montaigne  who  has  said  that 
ignorance  is  the  softest  pillow  on  which  a  man  can  rest  his 
head.  I  am  sure  it  is  true  as  to  everything  political,  and  shall 
endeavor  to  estrange  myself  to  everything  of  that  character. 
I  indulge  myself  on  one  political  topic  only,  that  is,  in  declar 
ing  to  my  countrymen  the  shameless  corruption  of  a  portion  of 
the  representatives  to>  the  first  and  second  Congresses  and 
their  implicit  devotion  to  the  Treasury."  To  Mr.  Adams,  the 
Vice-President,  he  wrote  even  more  complacently:  "The  differ 
ence  of  my  present  and  past  situation  is  such  as  to  leave  me 
nothing  to  regret  but  that  my  retirement  has  been  postponed 
four  years  too  long.  The  principles  on  which  I  calculated  the 
value  of  life  are  entirely  in  favor  of  my  present  course.  I  return 
to  farming  with  an  ardor  which  has  got  the  better  entirely  of 
my  love  of  study.  Instead  of  writing  ten  or  twelve  letters  a 
day,  which  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  doing  as  a  thing  of 
course,  I  put  off  answering  my  letters  now,  farmerlike,  till  a 
rainy  day,  and  then  find  them  sometimes  postponed  by  other 
necessary  occupations." 

To  Tenche  Coxe,  an  old  friend,  he  wrote  in  a  vein  which 
later  furnished  his  opponents  with  a  theme  for  much  ridicule: 

"I  am  still  warm  whenever  I  think  of  those  scoundrels  [mem 
bers  of  Congress  who  had  profited  by  Hamilton's  schemes], 
though  I  do  it  as  seldom  as  I  can,  preferring  infinitely  to  con 
template  the  tranquil  growth  of  my  lucern  and  my  potatoes. 
I  have  so>  completely  withdrawn  myself  from  these  spectacles 
of  usurpation  and  misrule  that  I  do>  not  take  a  single  newspaper, 
nor  read  one  a  month;  and  I  feel  myself  infinitely  happier  for  it." 

According  to  his  farm  book,  his  estate  comprised  a  total  of 
10,647  acres,  but  the  greatest  area  under  cultivation  at  any 
one  time  never  reached  two  thousand  acres.  His  slaves  num 
bered  one  hundred  and  fifty-four.  His  domestic  animals  at  the 
beginning  of  1794  were  thirty-four  horses,  five  mules,  two  hun- 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  59 

dred  and  forty-nine  cattle,  three  hundred  and  ninety  hogs,  and 
three  sheep.  A  letter  to  the  President  shows  the  condition  of 
his  property:  "I  find,  on  a  more  minute  examination  of  my 
lands  than  the  short  visits  heretofore  made  to  them  permitted, 
that  a  ten  years'  abandonment  of  them  to  the  ravages  of  over 
seers  has  brought  on  them  a  degree  of  degradation  far  beyond 
what  I  had  expected.  As  this  obliges  me  to  adopt  a  milder 
course  of  cropping,  so-  I  find  that  they  have  enabled  me  to  do 
it  by  having  opened  a  great  deal  of  land  during  my  absence. 
I  have,  therefore,  determined  on  a  division  of  my  farms  into  six 
fields,  to  be  put  in  this  rotation:  first  year,  wheat;  second, 
corn,  potatoes,  peas;  third,  rye  or  wheat,  according  to  circum 
stances;  fourth  and  fifth,  clover  when  the  field  will  bring  it;  and 
buckwheat  dressings  when  they  will  not;  sixth,  folding  and 
buckwheat  dressings.  But  it  will  take  me  from  three  to  six 
years  to  get  this  plan  under  way.  I  am  not  yet  satisfied  that 
my  acquisition  of  overseers  has  been  a  happy  one,  or  that  much 
will  be  done  this  year  towards  rescuing  my  plantations  from 
their  wretched  condition.  Time,  patience  and  perseverance 
must  be  the  remedy;  and  the  maxim  of  your  letter,  'Slow  and 
sure/  is  not  less  a  good  one  in  agriculture  than  in  politics." 

Success  attended  Jefferson's  efforts  to*  reduce  to  system  the 
affairs  of  his  estate.  A  picture  of  the  prosperity  of  Monticello 
and  a  pleasing  sketch  of  its  owner  was  drawn  by  Rochefoucauld- 
Liancourt,  who  visited  Jefferson  in  1796:  "At  present  he  is 
employed  with  activity  and  perseverance  in  the  management 
of  his  farms  and  buildings;  and  he  orders,  directs,  and  pursues 
in  the  minutest  detail  every  branch  of  business  relative  to  them. 
I  found  him  in  the  midst  of  harvest,  from  which  the  scorching 
heat  of  the  sun  does  not  prevent  his  attendance.  His  negroes 
are  nourished,  clothed,  and  treated  as  well  as  white  servants 
could  be.  As  he  did  not  expect  any  assistance  from  the  two 
small  neighboring  towns,  every  article  is  made  on  his  farm.  His 
negroes  are  cabinet-makers,  carpenters,  masons,  bricklayers, 
smiths,  etc.  The  children  he  employs  in  a  nail  factory,  which 
yields  already  a  considerable  profit.  The  young  and  old  ne- 
gresses  spin  for  the  clothing  of  the  rest.  He  animates  them 


60  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

by  rewards  and  distinctions.  In  fine,  his  superior  mind  directs 
the  management  of  his  domestic  concerns  with  the  same  ability, 
activity,  and  regularity  which  he  evinced  in  the  conduct  of  pub 
lic  affairs,  and  which  he  is  calculated  to  display  in  any  situation 
of  life.  In  the  superintendence  of  his  household,  he  is  assisted 
by  his  two  daughters,  Mrs.  Randolph  and  Miss  Maria,  who  are 
handsome,  modest  and  amiable  women." 

It  was  in  the  summer  of  1796  that  Jefferson  reduced  to  defi 
nite  form  his  speculations  on  the  subject  of  mould-boards  of 
least  resistance.  He  had  been  at  work  upon  this  problem  for 
years,  and  it  was  with  great  pride  that  he  finally  solved  it  and 
put  his  ideal  plows  in  operation  in  his  own  fields.  In  1798,  at 
the  official  request  of  the  English  Board  of  Agriculture,  he 
forwarded  to  them  a  model  and  description  of  his  plow;  and, 
a  year  or  so  later,  he  also  sent  one  to<  the  Agricultural  Society 
of  the  Seine.  Indeed,  it  was  generally  understood  in  France 
that  Jefferson  was  the  discoverer  of  a  formula  for  constructing, 
on  mathematical  principles,  a  mould-board  of  least  resistance  for 
plows. 

Although  immersed  in  subjects  of  scientific  agriculture,  Jef 
ferson's  mind  had  never  really  forsaken  its  old  channels.  His 
letters  of  1795  and  1796  constantly  revert  to  political  topics. 
Washington's  address  to  Congress  in  November,  1794,  at 
tracted  his  keenest  interest.  This  concerned  exclusively  the 
measures  which  had  been  taken  by  the  Executive  to  put  down 
the  revolts  in  western  Pennsylvania  against  the  Excise  Law. 
Since  the  passage  of  the  law  in  March,  1791,  there  had  been 
throughout  this  section  constant  protests  and  popular  disturb 
ances.  In  the  summer  of  1794  these  troubles  culminated  in 
a  meeting  of  delegates  at  Pittsburg,  at  which  a  system  of  cor 
respondence  between  the  malcontents  was  established.  Armed 
men  continued  to  interrupt  Federal  officers  in  the  discharge  of 
their  duties,  and  either  drove  them  away  or  compelled  them 
to  pledge  themselves  not  to*  attempt  to>  serve  processes.  All 
these  measures  had  as  their  avowed  purpose  the  repeal  of  the 
law.  Before  resorting  to  force  the  President  issued  a  proclama 
tion  of  warning  to  the  law-breakers.  Randolph,  Jefferson's 


OF    THOMAS    JEFFERSON  6l 

successor  as  Secretary  of  State,  and  Gov.  Mifflin,  the  Republi 
can  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  advised  that  certain  commis 
sioners  already  appointed  should  proceed  to  the  scene  of  dis 
turbance  and  offer  a  full  pardon  for  past  offenses  on  condition 
of  future  obedience  to  the  laws;  and  they  maintained  that  this 
would  be  more  effectual  if  there  was  no  threat  of  calling  out 
troops.  Hamilton,  however,  the  father  of  the  obnoxious  law, 
was  for  more  stringent  measures.  He  urged  Washington  to 
call  for  troops  at  once  and  send  them  against  the  insurgents 
if  they  refused  obedience.  This  plan  prevailed,  and  the  Presi 
dent  made  requisition  in  due  form  upon  the  Governors  of  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia  for  15,000  militia. 
General  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia,  was  in  command;  but  Hamil 
ton's  request  that  he  might  accompany  the  expedition  had  been 
granted,  and  he  was  virtually  its  head.  The  troops  crossed 
the  Alleghanies  late  in  October,  but  when  they  arrived  in 
the  disaffected  district  no  resistance  of  any  kind  was  offered. 
Several  persons  were  arrested,  but  were  subsequently  released 
by  the  civil  authorities. 

Jefferson  at  the  outset  had  been  bitterly  opposed  to  the  pas 
sage  of  the  Excise  Law;  and  besides  his  disapproval  of  the 
spirit  in  which  its  execution  was  now  enforced,  his  sentiments 
toward  the  men  at  the  head  of  the  expedition  were  not  such  as 
to  reconcile  him  to  it.  He  could  no  longer  keep  silent  when 
he  saw  in  the  President's  address  a  vigorous  denunciation  of  the 
Democratic  Corresponding  Societies  which  in  some  States  had 
been  established  in  imitation  of  the  French  societies  of  that 
name.  The  President  held  these  in  a  large  measure  responsible 
for  the  outbreak.  Jefferson  wrote  to  Madison  his  first  censure 
of  the  President:  'The  denunciation  of  the  democratic  so 
cieties  is  one  of  the  extraordinary  acts  of  boldness  of  which  we 
have  seen  so  many  from  the  faction  of  Monocrats.  It  is  won 
derful  indeed  that  the  President  should  have  permitted  himself 
to  be  the  organ  of  such  an  attack  on  the  freedom  of  discussion, 
the  freedom  of  writing,  printing  and  publishing.  I  expected 
to  have  seen  some  justification  of  arming  one  part  of  the  society 
against  another;  *  *  *  but  the  part  of  the  speech  which  was 


62  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

to  be  taken  as  a  justification  of  the  armament  reminded  me  of 
Parson  Sanders's  demonstration  why  minus  into  minus  makes 
plus.  After  a  parcel  of  shreds  of  stuff  from  yEsop's  Fables  and 
Tom  Thumb,  he  jumps  at  once  into  his  ergo,  minus  multiplied 
by  minus  makes  plus.  Just  so  the  fifteen  thousand  men  enter 
after  the  fables  in  the  speech." 

Hardly  had  the  excitement  of  the  country  over  the  excise 
trouble  subsided,  when  a  fresh  cause  of  dissension  arose  in  the 
treaty*  arranged  with  England  by  John  Jay.  The  advocates 
of  this  treaty  did  not  claim  perfection  for  it.  Jay  himself  was 
dissatisfied  with  some  of  its  terms;  Hamilton  was  for  "valuable 
alterations;"  and  the  President,  according  to  Judge  Marshall's 
statement,  had  several  objections  to  it.  The  Federalist  party  in 
the  main  supported  it  as  the  best  treaty  that  could  be  secured 
in  the  circumstances.  The  Republican  party,  on  the  contrary, 
everywhere  denounced  it  in  unmeasured  terms  as  a  shameless 
surrender  to  England  of  every  point  at  issue  between  the  two 
countries.  In  this  they  were  joined  by  many  who  had  hith 
erto  been  uniformly  well  affected  toward  the  administration. 
Immense  mass  meetings  were  held  in  Boston,  New  York,  Phila 
delphia,  Charleston,  and  in  many  of  the  rural  sections  to  protest 
against  the  final  ratification  of  the  treaty. 

Jefferson's  first  expression  of  an  opinion  on  the  treaty  shows 
surprisingly  little  sympathy  with  this  general  dissatisfaction. 
He  wrote  Mann  Page  on  August  3Oth,  1795  :  "Our  part  of  the 
country  is  in  considerable  fermentation  on  what  they  suspect  to 
be  a  recent  roguery.  They  say  that  while  all  hands  were  below 
deck  mending  sails,  splicing  ropes,  and  every  one  at  his  own 
business,  and  the  captain  in  his  cabin  attending  to  his  log-book 
and  chart,  a  rogue  of  a  pilot  has  run  them  into*  an  enemy's 
port.  But  metaphor  apart,  there  is  much  dissatisfaction  with 
Mr.  Jay  and  his  treaty.  For  my  part,  I  consider  myself  now 
but  as  a  passenger,  leaving  the  world  and  its  government  to 
those  who  are  likely  to>  live  longer  in  it."  When,  however, 
Hamilton  came  forward  over  the  signature,  first  of  Curtius,  and 


*See  Jay's  Treaty,  page  269. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  63 

then  of  Camillus,  as  the  special  champion  of  the  treaty,  Jeffer 
son  forgot  his  slender  hold  upon  the  world  and  showed  a  very 
robust  desire  to  have  Hamilton  refuted.  Three  weeks  after 
the  letter  to  Page  he  wrote  to  Madison:  "A  solid  reply  might 
completely  demolish  what  was  too>  feebly  attacked  and  has  gath 
ered  strength  from  the  weakness  of  the  attack.  The  mer 
chants  were  certainly  (except  those  of  them  who  are  English) 
as  open-mouthed  at  first  against  the  treaty  as  any.  But  the 
general  expression  of  indignation  has  alarmed  them  for  the 
strength  of  the  Government.  They  have  feared  the  shock  would 
be  too  great,  and  chosen  to  tack  about  and  support  both  Treaty 
and  Government  rather  than  risk  the  Government.  Thus  it  is 
that  Hamilton,  Jay,  etc.,  in  the  boldest  act  they  ever  ventured 
on  to  undermine  the  Government,  have  the  address  to  screen 
themselves,  and  direct  the  hue  and  cry  against  those  who  wish 
to  drag  them  into  light.  A  bolder  party  stroke  was  never  struck. 
For  it  certainly  is  an  attempt  of  a  party  who  find  they  have  lost 
their  majority  in  one  branch  of  the  Legislature,  to  make  a  law 
by  the  aid  of  the  other  branch  and  of  the  Executive,  under 
color  of  a  treaty  which  shall  bind  up  the  hands  of  the  adverse 
branch  from  ever  restraining  the  commerce  of  their  patron  na 
tion.  There  appears  a  pause  at  present  in  the  public  senti 
ment  which  may  be  followed  by  a  revolution.  *  *  *  For 
God's  sake  take  up  your  pen  and  give  a  fundamental  reply  to 
Curtius  and  Camillus" 

Despite  the  Republican  opposition,  the  treaty  was  ratified. 
This  evoked  a  storm  of  criticism,  the  bitterness  of  which  has 
rarely  been  equalled  in  our  history.  Jefferson  joined  in  this 
criticism  and  did  not  spare  Washington  himself.  He  even  as 
sailed  the  treaty-making  power  of  the  Executive.  "The  objects 
on  which  the  President  and  Senate  may  exclusively  act  by 
treaty  are  much  reduced,"  he  wrote,  "but  the  field  on  which 
they  may  act  with  the  sanction  of  the  Legislature  is  large 
enough.  And  I  see  no  harm  in  rendering  their  sanction  neces 
sary  and  not  much  harm  in  annihilating  the  whole  treaty-making 
power,  except  as  to  making  peace."  Touching  the  President's 
refusal  to  lay  before  the  House  the  documents  relating  to  the 


64  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

treaty,  he  wrote  to  Madison:  "The  whole  mass  of  your  con 
stituents  are  looking  to  you  as  their  last  hope  to  save  them  from 
the  effects  of  the  avarice  and  corruption  of  the  first  agent  [Jay], 
the  revolutionary  machinations  of  others,  and  the  incompre 
hensible  acquiescence  of  the  only  honest  man  who  has  assented 
to  it.  I  wish  that  his  honesty  and  his  political  errors  may  not 
furnish  a  second  occasion  to  exclaim:  'Curse  on  his  virtues, 
they  have  undone  his  country.' ' 

Jay's  treaty  and  the  insurrection  against  the  Excise  Law  drew 
Jefferson  into  the  current  of  active  politics.  The  Presidential 
election  of  1796  found  him  the  candidate  of  his  party.  If  we 
may  trust  his  own  protestations,  he  became  a  candidate  much 
against  his  will.  To  Madison's  urgent  appeal  that  he  assume 
the  leadership  of  his  party  he  replied  (April,  1795):  "There  is 
not  another  person  (beside  yourself)  in  the  United  States,  who 
being  placed  at  the  helm  of  affairs,  my  mind  would  be  so-  com 
pletely  at  rest  for  the  future  of  our  political  bark.  *  *  * 
As  to  myself,  the  subject  had  been  thoroughly  weighed  and 
decided  on,  and  my  retirement  from  office  had  been  meant  from 
all  office,  high  and  low,  without  exception.  I  can  say,  too, 
with  truth,  that  the  subject  had  not  been  presented  to  my  mind 
by  any  vanity  of  my  own.  *  *  *  But  the  idea  being  once 
presented  to  me,  my  own  quiet  required  that  I  should  face  and 
examine  it.  I  did  so  thoroughly,  and  had  no  difficulty  to  see 
that  every  reason  which  had  determined  me  to  retire  from 
the  office  I  then  held  operated  more  strongly  against  that  which 
was  insinuated  from  a  hostile  quarter  to  be  my  object."  *  *  * 
Special  considerations  which  have  supervened  on  my  retirement 
still  more  insuperably  bar  the  door  to  it.  My  health  is  entirely 
broken  down  within  the  last  eight  months;  my  age  requires  that 
I  shall  place  my  affairs  in  a  clear  state;  these  are  sound  if  taken 
care  of,  but  capable  of  considerable  dangers  if  longer  neglected; 
and  above  all  things,  the  delights  I  feel  in  the  society  of  my  fam 
ily  and  in  the  agricultural  pursuits  in  which  I  am  so  eagerly 
engaged.  The  little  spice  of  ambition  which  I  had  in  my 
younger  days  has  long  since  evaporated,  and  I  set  still  less  store 
by  a  posthumous  than  present  name.  In  stating  to  you  the 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  65 

heads  of  reasons  which  have  produced  iny  determination,  I  do 
not  mean  an  opening  for  future  discussion,  or  that  I  may  be 
reasoned  out  of  it.  The  question  is  forever  closed  with  me; 
my  sole  object  is  to  avail  myself  of  the  first  opening  ever  given 
me  from  a  friendly  quarter  (and  I  could  not  with  decency  do 
it  before)  of  preventing  any  division  or  loss  of  votes  which  might 
be  fatal  to  the  Republican  interests." 

There  is  no  good  reason  to  doubt  that  Jefferson  was  sincere 
when  he  made  these  assertions;  but  he  had  mistaken  a  purely 
temporary  condition  of  body  and  mind  for  a  lasting  one.  Time 
had  restored  his  health  and  brought  events  of  national  and  in 
ternational  importance  in  whose  settlement  he  could  but  feel 
an  absorbing  interest.  True,  he  was  not  now  aggressively  eager 
for  the  nomination;  but  it  was  only  natural  that  he  should  not 
be  indifferent  to  the  spontaneous  and  unanimous  wish  of  his 
party.  It  was  not  definitely  known  until  Washington's  Farewell 
Address  appeared,  in  September,  that  he  would  retire,  but  his 
retirement  was  anticipated,  and  by  midsummer  Jefferson  was 
recognized  as  the  Republican  candidate.  The  contest  was  be 
tween  him  and  Adams,  the  Federalist  candidate.  The  campaign 
was  strangely  quiet.  Jefferson  wrote  but  one  political  letter, 
and  was  not  outside  of  his  county  during  the  three  months  pre 
ceding  the  election. 

It  was  late  in  December  when  Jefferson  learned  the  result  of 
the  contest.  On  January  ist,  1797,  he  wrote  Madison:  "The 
event  of  the  election  has  never  been  a  matter  of  doubt  in  my 
mind.  *  *  *  Indeed,  the  vote  comes  much  nearer  an  equal 
ity  than  I  had  expected.  I  know  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  be 
lief  in  one's  declarations  of  a  disinclination  to  honors,  and  that 
it  is  greatest  to  those  who  still  remain  in  the  world.  But  no 
arguments  were  wanting  to  reconcile  me  to  a  relinquishment 
of  the  first  office  or  acquiescence  under  the  second.  As  to 
the  first,  it  was  impossible  that  a  more  solid  unwillingness  settled 
on  full  calculation  could  have  existed  in  any  man's  mind,  short 
of  the  degree  of  absolute  refusal.  *  *  *  As  to  the  second, 
it  is  the  only  office  in  the  world  about  which  I  am  unable  to 
decide  in  my  own  mind  whether  I  had  rather  have  it  or  not  have 


66  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

it.  Pride  does  not  enter  into  the  estimate;  for  I  think  with  the 
Romans  that  the  general  of  to-day  should  be  a  soldier  of  to 
morrow  if  necessary.  I  can  particularly  have  no  feelings  which 
would  revolt  at  a  secondary  position  to>  Mr.  Adams.  I  am 
his  junior  in  life,  was  his  junior  in  Congress,  his  junior  in  the 
diplomatic  line,  his  junior  lately  in  our  civil  Government."  It 
seems  almost  inexplicable  at  first  sight  that  Jefferson  should 
thus  view  the  success  of  a  rival  and  an  acknowledged  Federalist; 
but  the  idea  of  a  compromise  with  Adams,  of  which  we  shall 
see  later  the  development,  was  already  in.  his  mind. 

On  February  8th,  1797,  the  votes  for  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent  were  opened  in  the  presence  of  the  two  Houses  of  Con 
gress.  Adams  had  received  the  entire  votes  of  the  New  England 
States,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Delaware,  one  from  Penn 
sylvania,  seven  from  Maryland,  one  from  Virginia,  and  one 
from  North  Carolina — seventy-one  in  all.  Jefferson  had  re 
ceived  the  entire  votes  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Kentucky, 
and  Tennessee  with  fourteen  from  Pennsylvania,  four  from 
Maryland,  twenty  from  Virginia  and  eleven  from  North  Caro 
lina — a  total  of  sixty-eight.  Adams  was  therefore  declared 
President  and  Jefferson  Vice-President. 

JEFFERSON  AS  VICE-PRESIDENT. 

In  March,  1797,  Jefferson  arrived  in  Philadelphia  in  time  to 
assume  his  duties  as  Vice-President.  He  had  written  Madison 
on  January  22nd :  "Though  I  am  not  aware  of  any  necessity  of 
going  on  to  Philadelphia  immediately,  yet  I  have  determined 
to  do  it  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  the  public,  and  to  do  away  with 
the  doubts  which  have  spread  that  I  will  consider  the  second 
office  as  beneath  my  acceptance.  The  journey,  indeed,  for  the 
month  of  February  is  a  tremendous  undertaking  for  one  who 
has  not  been  seven  miles  from  home  since  my  re-settlement." 

Adams'  inaugural  speech  was  regarded  by  the  extreme  Fed 
eralists  as  "temporizing,  and  as  having  the  air  of  a  lure  for 
the  favor  of  his  opponents  at  the  expense  of  his  sincerity."  This 
opinion,  divested  of  its  harsh  tone,  was  not  without  founda- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  67 

tion,  for  interviews  had  already  taken  place  between  Adams 
and  Jefferson  which  looked  toward  a  coalition  of  their  forces. 
Jefferson  was  more  than  willing  to  meet  him  half  way.  He 
had,  on  March  2nd,  called  on  the  President-elect.  The  call  was 
returned  the  next  morning.  Jefferson  described  the  interview 
at  length: 

"Mr.  Adams  found  me  alone  in  my  room,  and  shutting  the 
door  himself,  said  he  was  glad  to>  find  me  alone,  for  that  he 
wished  a  free  conversation  with  me.  He  entered  immediately  on 
an  explanation  of  the  situation  of  our  affairs  with  France  and 
the  danger  of  rupture  with  that  nation,  a  rupture  which  would 
convulse  the  attachments  of  this  country.  *  *  *  That  he 
had,  therefore,  concluded  to  send  a  mission,  which  by  its  dignity 
should  satisfy  France,  and  by  its  selection  from  the  three  great 
divisions  of  the  continent,  should  satisfy  all  parts  of  the  United 
States;  in  short,  that  he  had  determined  to  join  Gerry  and  Madi 
son  to  Pinckney,  and  he  wished  me  to  consult  Mr.  Madison 
for  him.  *  *  *  I  consulted  Mr.  Madison,  who  declined  as 
I  expected." 

But  the  attempt  to  harmonize  was  destined  to  be  abortive, 
for  Adams,  before  two  clays  should  elapse,  was  to  prove  himself 
not  so  far  freed  from  party  ties.  Jefferson's  "Anas"  gives  the  se 
quel:  "I  think  it  was  on  Monday,  the  sixth  of  March,  Mr. 
Adams  and  myself  met  at  dinner  at  Gen.  Washington's,  and 
we  happened  in  the  evening  to  rise  from  the  table  and  come 
away  together.  As  soon  as  we  got  into  the  street,  I  told  him 
the  event  of  my  negotiation  with  Mr.  Madison.  He  immediately 
said  that  on  consultation  some  objections  to  that  nomination 
had  been  raised  which  he  had  not  contemplated;  and  was  going 
on  with  excuses,  which  evidently  embarrassed  him,  when  we 
came  to  Fifth  street,  where  our  road  separated,  his  being 
down  Market  street,  mine  along  Fifth,  and  we  took  leave;  and 
he  never  after  that  said  one  word  to  me  on  the  subject,  or  ever 
consulted  me  as  to  any  measures  of  the  Government."  The 
usual  extra  session  of  the  Senate  for  confirming  appointments 
lasted  a  few  days,  and  Jefferson  returned  to  Monticello  imme 
diately. 


68  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

The  most  urgent  matter  awaiting  the  new  administration 
was  that  of  our  French  relations.  In  1794,  Monroe  had  been 
sent  by  Washington  as  special  envoy  to  France,  and  had  been 
received  by  the  National  Convention  with  every  demonstration 
of  good  will.  He  had  secured  the  repeal  of  the  decree  which 
authorized  the  seizure  and  sale  of  provisions  found  on  board 
United  States  vessels;  and  payment  for  seizures  already  made 
was  promised.  But  Jay's  mission  to  England,  with  the  uncer 
tainty  as  to  its  true  purpose,  had  proved  itself  an  insuperable 
obstacle  to  full  unity  with  France.  The  French  Government 
complained  that  the  impending  treaty  was  an  infraction  of  the 
existing  one  of  1778  between  America  and  France.  The  United 
States  Government,  after  it  had  committed  itself  to  the  ratifica 
tion  of  the  treaty,  recalled  Monroe. 

At  this  the  French  Government,  whose  executive  power  had, 
in  1795,  been  merged  into-  a  Directory  of  five  members,  took 
violent  offense.  They  alleged  that  Monroe's  recall  was  due 
solely  to  his  friendly  disposition  toward  their  country,  and  they 
immediately  entered  upon  extreme  measures  of  retaliation. 
French  cruisers  were  ordered  to  treat  neutrals  as  those  neutrals 
permitted  the  English  to  treat  them;  and,  in  October,  1796,  an 
Arret  was  issued  directing  the  seizure  of  British  property  and 
provisions  found  on  board  American  vessels. 

The  relations  between  the  United  States  and  France  were  at 
this  tension  when  Adams  became  President.  In  less  than  three 
weeks  came  news  of  still  greater  importance.  The  head  of  the 
Directory,  in  granting  Monroe  his  letters  of  recall  had  used 
severe  language  in  regard  to>  the  policy  of  the  American  Gov 
ernment  toward  England,  and  had  refused  letters  of  hospitality 
to  Pinckney,  who  had  been  sent  as  Monroe's  successor.  Adams 
immediately  called  an  extra  session  of  Congress  to  meet  on 
May  1 5th,  and  opened  it  with  a  speech  of  warlike  tone.  The 
answers  of  the  two  Houses  were  of  a  similar  character,  and  in 
this  spirit  they  began  legislation.  With  this  special  session 
of  Congress  began  Jefferson's  first  service  as  the  permanent 
presiding  officer  of  a  deliberative  body.  The  duties  were  not 
entirely  strange  to  him,  for  he  had  often  been  called  to  the  chair 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  69 

of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  and  of  the  Continental  Con 
gress.  In  spite  of  this  experience,  however,  he  was  fully  aware 
of  his  lack  of  acquaintance  with  parliamentary  procedure.  He 
applied  to  his  old  preceptor,  Mr.  Wythe,  for  such  parliamentary 
rules  as  he  had  committed  to  paper,  but  Mr.  Wythe  had  none, 
and  he  was  obliged  to*  depend  upon  a  commonplace-book  on  the 
proceedings  of  deliberative  bodies,  compiled  while  he  was  a 
student  and  practitioner  of  law.  This,  perfected  by  his  experi 
ence  in  the  Senate,  grew  into  "Jefferson's  Manual  of  Parlia 
mentary  Law." 

The  President's  speech  at  the  opening  of  Congress  met  Jef 
ferson's  unequivocal  condemnation.  He  became  convinced  that 
Adams  was  bent  on  forcing  the  country  into  a  wrar  writh  France, 
and  from  this  time  forth  his  whole  attention  was  centered  in 
opposing  the  policy  of  the  Government.  His  opposition,  of 
course,  acquired  preponderating  importance  from  his  leader 
ship  of  his  party,  and  from  his  official  station  as  Vice-President. 
The  party  had  got  its  bearings  by  this  time,  and  had  developed 
a  spirit  which  brought  with  it  the  almost  inevitable  estrange 
ment  of  friends.  This  Jefferson  deprecated  most  honestly.  He 
wrote  to  E.  Rutledge,  June,  1797:  "The  passions  are  too  high 
at  present  to  be  cooled  in  a  day.  You  and  I  have  formerly 
seen  warm  debates  and  high  political  passions.  But  gentlemen 
of  different  politics  would  then  speak  to  each  other,  and  separate 
the  business  of  the  Senate  from  that  of  society.  It  is  not  so 
now.  Men  who  have  been  intimate  all  their  lives  cross  the  street 
to  avoid  meeting  and  turn  their  heads  another  \vay,  lest  they 
should  be  obliged  to  touch  their  hats.  This  may  do  for  young 
men  with  whom  passion  is  enjoyment.  But  it  is  afflicting  to 
peaceable  minds.  Tranquillity  is  the  old  man's  milk.  I  go  to 
enjoy  it  in  a  few  days,  and  to  exchange  the  roar  and  tumult  of 
bulls  and  bears  for  the  prattle  of  my  grandchildren  and  senile 
rest." 

When  Congress  reassembled  in  November,  he  was  not  present 
at  the  opening.  He  was  never  present  when  the  President's 
speeches  were  delivered  to  Congress.  He  did  not  care  to  lend 
by  his  presence  approval  to  the  formal  and  fulsome  replies 


70  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

of  the  Federalist  Senate.  Congress  had  practically  no  business 
before  it.  Nothing  had  been  heard  from  the  envoys  to  France, 
though  several  months  had  elapsed  since  Marshall  and  Gerry 
had  been  sent  to  join  Pinckney.  Again  and  again  Jefferson 
wrote  of  the  failure  to  hear  from  them.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that 
he  invariably  put  the  most  favorable  interpretation  upon  their 
silence,  the  tone  of  his  correspondence  betrays  an  anxiety  which 
he  could  not  conceal.  He  regarded  this  period  of  suspense  as 
most  critical  for  the  future  policy  and  even  for  the  existence  of 
his  party;  and  this  was  the  belief  of  most  of  the  Republican 
members  of  Congress. 

Early  in  March,  the  long-expected  dispatches  reached  the 
President,  and  on  the  5th  he  laid  one  of  these  before  Congress, 
with  the  announcement  that  others  in  cipher  were  in  his  pos 
session.  On  the  igth  he  communicated  enough  of  these  to 
reveal  their  tenor  and  to  arouse  the  passions  of  the  war  party. 
At  the  same  time  he  proposed  war  preparations  of  an  offensive 
as  well  as  defensive  character.  The  Senate  requested  the  cipher 
dispatches  in  full,  and  the  President  willingly  complied.  Their 
contents  were  of  a  most  inflammatory  character.  The  envoys 
had  not  secured  a  single  interview  with  Talleyrand,  the  Direc 
tory's  Minister  for  foreign  affairs.  This  wily  statesman  had 
continued  to  excuse  himself  on  one  plea  or  another,  and  had 
sent  his  special  agents,  Hottingeur,  Bellamy,  and  Hauteval,  to 
meet  the  American  legation  in  his  stead.  The  dispatches  omitted 
the  names  of  Talleyrand's  agents  and  substituted  the  letters 
X.  Y.  Z. — a  circumstance  that  gave  the  transaction  the  name 
of  "the  X.  Y.  Z.  affair."  These  go-betweens  repeatedly  sug 
gested  to  the  envoys  to  propose  to>  Talleyrand  the  loan  of  a 
large  sum  of  money  by  the  United  States,  and  the  envoys  made 
the  mistake  of  listening  to  the  suggestions.  But  they  went  no 
further.  They  steadily  refused  to  make  any  answer  until  French 
captures  of  American  vessels  should  cease.  The  caution  of  both 
sides  prevented  any  agreement  from  being  reached,  and  after 
months  of  futile  negotiations  the  American  envoys  finally  did 
what  they  should  have  done  when  the  first  ambiguous  overture 
was  made  to  them.  They  broke  off  all  negotiations,  and  re- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  71 

ported  to  the  President  their  failure  to  reach  an  agreement  with 
the  French  Government. 

When  the  dispatches  were  made  public  in  the  United  States, 
the  fiercest  indignation  against  France  spread  throughout  the 
country.  The  Republican  party,  as  the  one  associated  with 
France  by  tradition  and  tenet,  was  almost  instantly  reduced  to 
a  more  feeble  minority  than  ever  before.  In  the  House  of 
Representatives  the  change  of  sentiment  was  especially  remark 
able.  The  few  Republicans  who  stood  firm  could  do  nothing 
more  than  urge  that  no  action  should  be  taken  until  the  truth 
could  be  more  clearly  known.  This  is  the  tone,  also,  of  Jeffer 
son's  letters  during  the  intensity  of  the  excitement.  His  dis 
gust  was  as  strong  as  that  which  he  felt  during  the  Genet  affair. 
He  wrote  as  a  man  who  felt  his  cause  discredited;  nor  can  we  en 
tirely  acquit  him  of  a  species  of  intellectual  juggling,  when  he 
maintained  that  not  the  conduct  of  Talleyrand,  but  Adams'  ad 
dress  of  May,  1797,  was  the  chief  obstacle  to  reconciliation  and 
friendship  between  the  nations. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  source  of  the  hostility  of  France, 
it  is  certain  that  the  indignation  of  the  United  States  was  rapidly 
fanned  by  the  measures  which  the  administration  pressed 
through  Congress  after  the  X.  Y.  Z.  revelations.  Bills  for  in 
creasing  the  fleet  and  army  of  the  country,  for  fortifying  the  har 
bors,  for  suspending  all  commercial  intercourse  with  France, 
and  for  giving  to  the  President  powers  absolutely  discretionary 
in  all  matters  of  war,  now  rapidly  passed  through  Congress. 

In  July,  1798,  Washington  was  nominated  to  be  Lieutenant- 
General  of  all  armies  which  might  be  raised,  and  he  accepted 
on  the  understanding  that  he  should  control  the  selection  of  all 
inferior  general  officers.  Hamilton  was  made  Inspector-General, 
and  with  Pinckney  and  Knox  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  Major- 
General.  The  policy  pursued  in  the  appointment  of  officers 
for  the  army  excited  in  the  Republican  party  the  deepest  sus 
picion.  Washington  had  accepted  the  command  with  the  ex 
press  avowal  that  it  was  for  an  exigency,  and  that,  when  that 
should  pass  over,  he  would  resign.  In  that  event  the  senior  in 
command,  and  the  man  whom  the  Federalist  Senate  would 


72  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

eagerly  appoint  as  Washington's  successor,  was  Hamilton.  Not 
only  would  the  army  thus  be  commanded  by  the  chief  opponent 
of  the  Republicans,  but  all  the  higher  commissions  would  be 
given  to  men  who  were  either  Federalists  or  of  decided  Fed 
eralist  leaning.  Even  for  the  lower  commissions  Washington 
advocated,  as  is  seen  in  a  confidential  letter  to  General  Davie, 
this  principle  of  selection.  He  was  for  giving  the  first  prefer 
ence  to  competent  officers  of  the  old  army,  but  added:  "If 
such  are  not  to  be  found,  next,  to  young  gentlemen  of  good  fam 
ilies,  liberal  education,  and  high  sense  of  honor;  and  thirdly, 
in  neither  case  to  any  who  are  known  enemies  to  their  own 
government;  for  they  will  as  certainly  attempt  to>  create  dis 
turbances  in  the  military  as  they  have  done  in  the  civil  admin 
istration  of  their  country." 

In  civil  affairs,  the  administration  was  no  less  active.  On 
June  2  ist,  the  President  sent  a  special  message  to  Congress 
announcing  that  he  had  put  an  end  to  all  negotiations  with 
France  by  the  recall  of  Gerry,  the  last  remaining  envoy  in  that 
country.  Congress  now  conferred  upon  the  President  unpre 
cedented  powers.  The  war  measures  put  under  his  direction 
necessarily  involved  the  strictest  watchfulness  over  the  large 
body  of  foreigners  resident  in  America.  The  term  of  residence 
necessary  to  naturalization  was  extended  to  fourteen  years,  and 
it  was  further  required  that  the  applicant  for  naturalization 
papers  should  prove  that  he  had  declared  his  intention  of  be 
coming  a  citizen  five  years  before  the  application.  All  aliens 
were  required  to  report  themselves  and  be  registered  by  the 
clerks  in  the  district  courts.  But  the  extreme  of  the  Federalist 
position  was  reached  when  the  "Alien  act"  was  passed  (June 
25th,  1798).  This  famous  law  authorized  the  President  to  order 
out  of  the  country  all  such  aliens  as  he  might  judge  to  be 
dangerous  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  United  States;  and  if 
such  alien  was  afterwards  found  in  the  country,  he  could  be 
imprisoned  for  three  years. 

Something  was  yet  needed,  however,  to  reach  the  class  whom 
the  Federalists  specially  feared — the  native-born  Republicans 
who  were  in  opposition  to  the  war  fever  and  to  the  measures  of 


OF   THOMAS  JEFFERSON  73 

the  administration.  The  Sedition  act  quickly  followed  the  Alien 
act.*  It  provided  heavy  fines  and  imprisonment  for  any  per 
son  who  should  conspire  to  oppose  the  United  States  Govern 
ment  or  the  laws  thereof,  or  should  print  or  publish  any  "false, 
scandalous  or  malicious  writings  against  the  Government,  Con 
gress  or  the  President,  intended  to  bring  disrepute  or  hatred 
upon,  or  stir  up  sedition  against  them."  The  dominant  party 
did  not  dare  to  aggravate  the  severity  of  these  provisions  by 
conferring  upon  the  President  the  scope  and  power  which  they 
had  given  him  in  the  Alien  law.  It  was  necessary  that,  in  sedi 
tion  cases,  the  defendants  should  be  convicted  of  the  charge 
before  a  court  of  the  United  States.  The  Federal  courts  thus 
came  immediately  into  prominence,  for  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Republicans,  they  \vere  to  be  the  sure  and  active  instruments 
of  partisan  persecution. 

Jefferson  had  left  for  home  before  the  passage  of  the  Sedition 
law  in  its  original  form.  He  had  throughout  the  session  closely 
followed  the  trend  of  events,  and  he  left  Philadelphia  impressed 
with  what  he  regarded  as  the  intemperate  language  and  conduct 
of  the  President.  He  saw,  ho-wever,  that  the  country  had 
come  to  look  more  rationally  upon  the  differences  with  France. 
To  John  Taylor  he  wrote  in  a  most  hopeful  strain:  'There 
is  a  most  respectable  part  of  our  State  who  have  been  enveloped 
in  the  X.  Y.  Z.  delusion,  and  who  destroy  our  unanimity  for  the 
present  moment.  This  disease  of  the  imagination  will  pass 
over,  because  the  patients  are  essentially  Republican.  In 
deed,  the  doctor  is  now  on  his  way  to  cure  it  in  the  guise  of  a 
tax-gatherer.  But  give  time  for  the  medicine  to  work,  and  for 
the  repetition  of  stronger  doses  which  must  be  administered. 
*  *  *  Nothing  but  excessive  taxation  can  get  us  along; 
and  this  will  carry  reason  and  reflection  to  every  man's  door, 
and  particularly  in  the  hour  of  election." 

During  this  summer  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  had  looked 
around  for  some  means  of  formal  and  effectual  resistance  to  the 
policy  of  the  administration,  "finding  themselves,"  to  use  their 

*See  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  page  137.  Also  Kentucky  Resolutions, 
page  282. 


74  THE   LIFE  AND   WRITINGS 

expression,  "of  no  use  in  Congress,  browbeaten  as  they  were 
by  the  bold  and  overwhelming  majority,  they  had  concluded 
to  retire  from  that  field  and  take  a  stand  in  the  State  Legislatures 
against  their  opponents'  enterprises  on  the  Constitution."  In 
this  they  counted  on  the  co-operation  of  Virginia  and  Ken 
tucky,  as  "the  sympathy  between  these  two  States  was  more 
cordial  and  more  intimately  confidential  than  between  any  other 
two  States  of  Republican  policy."  Toward  the  close  of  October, 
1798,  W.  C.  Nicholas,  of  Virginia,  and  John  C.  Breckenridge,  of 
Kentucky,  visited  Monticello  and  urged  Jefferson  to  draw  up 
resolutions  of  the  desired  tenor  for  presentation  to  the  Legisla 
ture  of  Kentucky.  They  assured  him  that  it  should  not  be 
known  from  what  quarter  the  resolutions  came,  and  Jefferson 
consented  to  draft  them.  In  the  original  draft  they  were  nine 
in  number.*  They  declared  that  the  Union  was  not  based  on 
the  principle  of  unlimited  submission  to  the  general  govern 
ment;  that  the  Constitution  was  a  compact  to  which  each 
State  was  a  party  as  over  against  its  fellow  States;  and  that  in 
all  cases  not  specified  in  the  compact,  each  party  had  a  right  to 
judge  for  itself  as  well  of  infraction  as  of  the  mode  and  measure 
of  redress.  The  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  were  denounced  as 
unconstitutional,  and  other  States  were  invited  to  join  in  de 
claring  them  void.  These  resolutions,!  in  almost  the  same 
form  in  which  they  went  from  Jefferson's  hand,  passed  the 
Kentucky  Legislature  almost  unanimously.  One,  the  ninth, 
authorizing  the  committee  to  establish  a  system  of  correspond 
ence  on  the  subject  with  other  States,  was  omitted;  another 
(the  eighth),  advocating  a  nullification  as  the  rightful  remedy 
for  all  assumptions  of  power  by  the  national  Government,  was 
modified.  Instead  of  declaring  the  acts  null  and  void,  the 
Legislature  merely  instructed  the  representatives  of  Kentucky 
in  Congress  "to  use  their  best  endeavors  to  procure  at  the  next 


*The  authorship  of  the  resolutions  was  not  generally  known  until  1821, 
when  Jefferson  disclosed  the  fact  to  a  son  of  Breckenridge,  who  had  written  to 
him  on  the  subject. 

fSee  text,  page  282. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  75 

session  of  Congress  a  repeal  of  the  aforesaid  unconstitutional 
and  obnoxious  acts." 

The  changes  in  the  resolutions  were  made  in  the  spirit  of 
Jefferson's  ideas  after  a  month  of  reflection.  In  November, 
1798,  he  enclosed  to  Madison  the  resolutions  as  he  had  drawn 
them,  and  wrote:  "I  think  we  should  distinctly  affirm  all  the 
important  principles  they  contain,  so  as  to  hold  the  ground 
in  future  and  leave  the  matter  in  such  a  train  as  that  we  may 
not  be  committed  absolutely  to  push  the  matter  to  extremities 
and  yet  may  be  free  to  push  as  far  as  events  will  render 
prudent."  This  note  had  reference  to  the  approaching  action 
of  the  Virginia  Legislature  upon  the  same  matter.  The  resolu 
tions  offered  in  this  body  by  Jefferson's  friend,  John  Taylor  of 
Carolina,  were  more  cautiously  worded.  Madison  was  their 
author. 

The  effect  of  these  two  sets  of  resolutions  upon  the  country 
at  large  must  have  been  a  source  of  great  disappointment  to 
their  authors  and  promoters.  Most  of  the  States  took  no 
official  notice  of  them.  Those  which  did  notice  them  did  not 
commit  themselves  to  an  approval.  But  Jefferson  was  for 
keeping  them  to  the  front.  In  August,  1799,  he  wrote  to- 
Wilson  C.  Nicholas:  "I  am  deeply  impressed  with  the  im 
portance  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky  pursuing  the  same  track 
at  the  ensuing  session  of  their  legislatures.  Your  going  thither 
furnishes  a  valuable  opportunity  of  effecting  it,  and  as  Mr. 
Madison  will  be  at  our  Assembly,  as  well  as  yourself,  I  thought 
it  important  to  procure  a  meeting  between  you."  And  again, 
in  September,  he  wrote  to  the  same  person:  "I  thought  some 
thing  essentially  necessary  to  be  said  in  order  to  avoid  the 
influence  of  acquiescence;  that  a  resolution  or  declaration 
should  be  passed,  answering  the  reasonings  of  such  of  the 
States  as  have  ventured  into  the  field  of  reason  and  that  of  the 
committee  of  Congress;  taking  some  notice,  too,  of  those 
States  who  have  either  not  answered  at  all,  or  answered  without 
reasoning.  *  *  *  Expressing  in  affectionate  and  concilia 
tory  language  our  warm  attachment  to  union  with  our  sister 
States  and  to  the  instrument  and  principles  by  which  we  are 


76  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

united;  *  *  *  that  not  at  all  disposed  to  make  every 
measure  of  error  or  of  wrong  a  cause  of  scission,  we  are  willing 
to  look  with  indulgence  or  to  wait  with  patience  till  those 
passions  and  delusions  shall  have  passed  over,  which  the  Federal 
Government  have  artfully  excited  to  cover  its  own  abuses  and 
conceal  its  designs,  fully  confident  that  the  good  sense  of  the 
American  people  and  their  attachment  to>  those  very  rights 
which  we  are  now  vindicating,  will,  before  it  shall  be  too  late, 
rally  with  us  round  the  true  principles  of  our  Federal  compact." 

The  Kentucky  resolutions  were  for  a  long  time  the  com- 
pletest  documentary  expression  of  the  policy  of  the  party  which 
claimed  allegiance  to-  Jefferson's  teachings.  Their  nature  has 
been  the  subject  of  an  immense  amount  of  discussion;  Madi 
son's  idea,  as  embodied  in  the  Virginia  resolutions,  was  that 
the  Federal  Government  should  be  held  in  check  by  an  agree 
ment  or  convention  of  the  States,  or  a  majority  of  them;  Jef 
ferson  left  undesignated  the  methods  by  which  the  States 
should  hold  the  General  Government  in  check.  The  "Kentucky 
Resolutions"  may  certainly,  without  violence  to  the  wording, 
be  regarded  as  teaching  the  right  of  the  State  to  impose 
restraint  upon  a  Federal  law;  but  their  failure  to  specify 
methods  of  procedure  links  them  closely  with  Madison's  more 
cautious  views.* 

Throughout  this  stormy  period  of  our  history  Jefferson's  ten 
sion  of  mind  and  body  were  extraordinary.  His  voluminous 
correspondence  was  almost  entirely  political.  He  was  never 
weary  of  urging  upon  his  correspondents  the  ardent  and  syste 
matic  propagation  of  the  Republican  faith.  Early  in  January, 
he  pressed  Edmund  Pendleton  to  prepare  a  supplement  to  his 
"Patriarchical  Address,"  and  to  have  it  circulated  throughout 


*  Their  ambiguity  was  forcibly  illustrated  in  after  years.  Calhoun  read 
in  them  authority  for  his  position  that  any  State  which  felt  aggrieved  might, 
of  and  by  itself  alone,  impose  an  arbitrary  restraint  upon  any  Federal  law, 
the  restraint  to  take  the  form  of  a  suspension  or  "nullification"  of  the  law 
by  the  State  within  its  jurisdiction.  President  Jackson,  however,  claiming 
to  represent  no  less  than  Calhoun  the  teachings  of  Jefferson,  found  in  the 
resolutions  no  sanction  for  such  action  of  the  State,  and  did  not  hesitate 
to  take  the  most  resolute  steps  against  nullification. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  77 

the  country  by  members  of  Congress.  Nowhere  else  does  Jef 
ferson  arraign  with  more  force  the  policy  of  his  opponents.  "If 
the  understanding  of  the  people  could  be  rallied  to  the  truth 
of  the  subject  (the  X.  Y.  Z.  affair)  by  exposing  the  dupery 
practiced  on  them,  there  are  so  many  other  things  about  to  bear 
on  them  favorably  for  the  resurrection  of  their  Republican 
spirit,  that  a  reduction  of  the  administration  to  constitutional 
principles  cannot  fail  to  be  the  effect.  These  are  the  Alien  and 
Sedition  Laws;  the  vexations  of  the  Stamp  Act;  the  disgusting 
particularities  of  the  direct  tax;  the  additional  army  without  an 
enemy,  and  recruiting  officers  lounging  at  every  court-house 
to  decoy  the  laborer  from  his  plow;  a  navy  of  fifty  ships;  five 
millions  to  be  raised  to  build  it  on  the  usurious  interest  of  eight 
per  cent;  the  perseverance  in  war  on  our  part  when  the  French 
Government  shows  such  an  anxious  desire  to  keep  at  peace 
with  us;  taxes  of  ten  millions  now  paid  by  four  millions  of 
people,  and  yet  a  necessity  in  a  year  or  two  of  raising  five  mil 
lions  more  for  annual  expenses." 

A  month  later  he  wrote  to  Madison  upon  the  most  practical 
methods  of  influencing  the  political  opinion  of  the  country. 
"A  piece  published  in  Bache's  paper  on  foreign  influence  has 
had  the  greatest  currency  and  effect.  *  *  *  It  is  such 
things  as  these  the  public  want.  They  say  so  from  all  quarters, 
and  that  they  wish  to  hear  reason  instead  of  disgusting  black 
guardism.  The  public  sentiment  being  on  the  careen  and  many 
heavy  circumstances  about  to  fall  into  the  Republican  scale, 
we  are  sensible  that  this  summer  is  the  season  for  systematic 
energies  and  sacrifices.  The  engine  is  the  press.  Every  man 
must  lay  his  purse  and  his  pen  under  contribution.  As  to  the 
former,  it  is  possible  I  may  be  obliged  to  assume  something 
for  you.  As  to  the  latter,  let  me  pray  and  beseech  you  to  set 
apart  a  certain  portion  of  every  post-day  to  write  what  may  be 
proper  for  the  public." 

After  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  the  relations  between 
President  Adams  and  his  Cabinet  became  more  strained  than 
ever.  His  suspension  of  war  preparations  was  recognized  as  a 
virtual  guarantee  of  peace,  and  he  was  now  for  sending  definite 


78  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

instructions  to  the  Envoys.  Though  these  instructions  were 
reduced  to  writing  early  in  March,  his  departure  from  Wash 
ington  relieved  the  Cabinet  of  the  spur  of  his  presence,  and  the 
Secretary  of  State,  on  one  pretext  and  another,  delayed  until 
the  middle  of  September  to  send  them  to  him  for  final  revision. 
Even  then  they  were  accompanied  by  an  appeal  to  suspend  the 
mission.  Mr.  Adams  now  saw,  what  he  had  for  months  sus 
pected,  that  his  Cabinet  was  eager  to  break  off  all  that  had  been 
achieved  toward  the  establishment  of  peace.  Thenceforward 
the  firmness  of  his  course  was  in  striking  contrast  to  the  vacil 
lating  policy  previously  pursued.  He  forced  the  Cabinet  to 
approve  the  instructions  again  drawn  up,  and,  early  in  October, 
without  consulting  them,  requested  the  Envoys  to*  sail  at  as 
early  a  date  as  possible.  From  this  action  may  be  dated  the 
President's  break  from  the  leaders  of  his  party — a  rupture  fol 
lowed  by  the  overthrow  of  the  Federalists  and  the  establish 
ment  of  the  Jeffersonians  in  power. 

To  dissensions  in  the  Federalist  party  was  added  the  burden 
of  unpopular  legislation.  Jefferson  and  Madison  had  turned  the 
popular  mind  to  the  dangers  to<  individual  liberty  proceeding 
from  the  Federalist  legislation  during  Adams'  term  of  office. 
Although  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  wrere  by  express  pro 
vision  to  expire  in  1800  and  1801  respectively,  and  although  in 
reality  they  had  been  enforced  in  a  very  small  number  of  cases, 
nevertheless  the  jealousy  of  the  individual  for  his  liberty,  in  the 
Federalist  as  well  as  in  the  Republican  States,  had  been  aroused, 
and  the  Republican  party  was  not  slow  to  turn  it  to  advantage. 

Thus  conditions  in  general  seemed  to  point  to  the  success  of 
the  Republican  party  in  the  Presidential  and  Congressional 
campaign  of  1800.  In  May,  Jefferson  had  been  unanimously 
nominated  by  the  Congressional  caucus  for  President,  and 
Aaron  Burr  had  been  nominated  for  Vice-President.  Jefferson 
was  from  the  beginning  confident  of  his  election.  In  March  he 
wrote  to  Madison:  "As  the  conveyance  is  confidential,  I  can 
say  something  on  a  subject  which  to  those  who  do  not  know 
my  real  disposition  respecting  it  might  seem  indelicate.  The 
Federalists  begin  to  be  very  seriously  alarmed  about  their  elec- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  79 

tions  next  fall.  Their  speeches  in  private  as  well  as  their  public 
and  private  demeanor  to  me  indicate  it  strongly." 

Jefferson  spent  the  entire  summer  of  1800  in  close  retire 
ment.  Only  twice  was  he  absent  from  home  farther  than 
Charlottesville,  once  to  a  remote  point  in  Albemarle  County, 
and  once  on  a  short  visit  to  his  Bedford  estate.  He  was  par 
ticularly  busy  in  his  farming-  operations,  in  his  nail  factory, 
and  in  burning  bricks  to  complete  the  proposed  addition  to  his 
house.  Indefatigable  biographers  have  found  in  his  account- 
book  an  increased  expenditure  during  the  campaign  in  the 
matter  of  newspapers  only.  His  correspondence  consisted  of 
but  three  letters  from  May  until  November.  One  of  these  is 
of  interest  as  showing  the  calumny  to  which  he  was  subjected, 
and  his  method  of  treating  it.  It  had  been  stated  by  a  divine 
of  Connecticut  in  the  course  of  a  sermon  that  the  "candidate 
of  the  Republican  party  had  obtained  his  property  by  fraud 
and  robbery;  that  in  one  instance  he  had  defrauded  and  robbed 
a  widow  and  fatherless  children  of  an  estate  of  which  he  was 
executor,  of  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling,  by  keeping  the  prop 
erty  and  paying  them  in  money  at  the  nominal  rate  when  it  was 
worth  no  more  than  forty  for  one;  and  that  all  this  could  be 
proved."  This  was  made  a  basis  of  a  letter  of  inquiry  addressed 
to  Jefferson  directly,  by  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  couched 
in  the  most  respectful  terms. 

Contrary  to  his  invariable  rule  in  such  matters,  Jefferson 
put  himself  to  the  pains  to  set  forth  freely  the  nature  of  the 
only  executorship  he  had  ever  held,  that  to  his  sister's  property. 
He  thus  prefaced  his  statement  of  the  circumstances  in  ques 
tion:  "From  the  moment  that  a  portion  of  my  fellow-citizens 
look  toward  me  with  a  vie\v  to  one  of  their  highest  offices,  the 
flood-gates  of  calumny  have  been  opened  upon  me;  not  where 
I  am  personally  known,  where  their  slanders  would  be  instantly 
judged  and  suppressed  from  a  general  sense  of  their  falsehood; 
but  in  the  remote  parts  of  the  Union,  where  the  means  of 
detection  are  not  at  hand,  and  the  trouble  of  an  inquiry  is 
greater  than  would  suit  the  inhabitants  to  undertake.  *  *  * 
I  leave  them,  therefore,  to  the  reproof  of  their  own  consciences. 


80  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

If  these  do  not  condemn  them,  there  will  yet  come  a  day  when 
the  false  witness  will  meet  a  judge  who  has  not  slept  over  his 
slanders."  In  conclusion  he  expressed  a  sentiment  in  which 
many  public  men  have  had  occasion  to  share.  "These,  sir,  are 
facts  well  known  to  every  person  in  this  quarter,  which  I  have 
committed  to  paper  for  your  own  satisfaction  and  that  of  those 
to  whom  you  may  choose  to  mention  them.  I  only  pray  that  my 
letter  may  not  go  out  of  your  hands,  lest  it  should  get  into  the 
newspapers,  a  bear-garden  scene  into  which  I  have  made  it  a 
point  to  enter  on  no  provocation." 

Attacks  upon  him  as  "an  atheist"  and  "French  infidel"  were 
also  not  wanting;  and  in  September,  1800,  a  pamphlet  was 
published  in  New  York  City  by  an  intimate  friend  of  General 
Hamilton,  entitled  "The  Voice  of  Warning  to  Christians  on 
the  Ensuing  Election."  It  was  devoted  to>  showing  that,  in 
various  particulars,  Jefferson  had,  in  his  "Notes  on  Virginia," 
directly  attacked  the  authenticity  of  the  Scriptures;  and  it  re 
tailed  many  stories  of  Jefferson's  lack  of  "decent  respect  for  the 
faith  and  worship  of  Christians."  Jefferson  took  no  notice  of 
these,  save  to  allude  to  them  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Rush.  He  wrote 
that  the  late  attack  of  the  Federalists  on  the  freedom  of  the 
press  "had  given  to  the  clergy  a  very  favorite  hope  of  obtain 
ing  an  establishment  of  a  particular  form  of  Christianity 
throughout  the  United  States."  He  added:  "The  returning 
good  sense  of  our  country  threatens  abortion  to>  their  hopes, 
and  they  believe  that  any  portion  of  power  confided  to  me  will 
be  exerted  in  opposition  to>  their  schemes.  And  they  believe 
rightly,  for  I  have  sworn  upon  the  altar  of  God  eternal  hostility 
against  every  form  of  tyranny  over  the  mind  of  man.  But  this 
is  all  they  have  to  fear  from  me;  and  enough,  too,  in  their 
opinion.  And  this  is  the  cause  of  their  printing  lying  pamphlets 
against  me,  forging  conversations  for  me." 

The  election  occurred  early  in  November,  but  it  was  not 
known  until  a  month  later  that  the  Republican  party  had 
elected  its  candidates  for  President  and  Vice-President,  and 
would  have  a  majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  With 
this  success,  however,  had  come  the  apprehension  within  the 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  8l 

party  that  trouble  would  arise  from  the  fact  that  Jefferson  and 
Burr  had  the  same  number  of  votes  in  the  Electoral  College. 
Jefferson  clearly  showed  this  in  a  letter  of  December  I5th  to 
Colonel  Burr.  In  this  he  sketched  the  rumored  policy  of  the 
Federalist  party,  which  would  consist  of  preventing  the  election 
of  a  President  by  the  House  of  Representatives  as  well  as  by 
the  Electoral  College.  He  did  not,  at  the  time,  know  Burr's 
true  character;  but  the  skilful  wording  of  the  letter,  and  its 
evident  purpose  to  conciliate  Burr,  show  that  he  was  apprehen 
sive  lest  ambition  should  prevail  with  him  over  party  fidelity. 
What  passed  between  the  two  can  never  be  definitely  deter 
mined,  for  neither  committed  anything  to  writing  during  this 
period;  but  one  thing  is  clear,  Burr  was  already  deep  in  nego 
tiation  with  the  Federalists;  Jefferson  knew  that  he  had  been 
approached  by  them,  and  yet  he  was  so  thoroughly  deceived 
as  to  Burr's  position,  that  he  could  write  to  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Eppes,  on  January  4th,  1801  :  "The  election  is  understood  to 
stand  73,  73,  65,  64.  The  Federalists  were  confident  at  first 
they  could  debauch  Colonel  B.  from  his  good  faith  by  offering 
him  their  vote  to  be  President,  and  have  seriously  proposed  it 
to  him.  His  conduct  has  been  honorable  and  decisive  and 
greatly  embarrasses  them."  It  was  impossible  that  Jefferson 
could  much  longer  remain  so  completely  in  the  dark,  but  even 
as  late  as  February  ist,  he  was  still  trying  to  maintain  unbroken 
relations  with  Burr.  He  wrote  to  him  on  that  date  the  last 
letter  that  was  ever  to  pass  between  them.  In  it  he  denounced 
as  a  forgery  a  letter  in  his  handwriting  to  Judge  Breckenridge, 
in  which  Burr's  character  was  bitterly  attacked.  But  the  day 
was  past  for  the  harmony  which  Jefferson  hoped  the  letter  might 
strengthen.  The  Federalist  caucus  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  had,  by  a  decided  majority,  pledged  the  support  of  the 
party  to  Burr.  This  step  had  been  taken  despite  Hamilton's 
vehement  opposition.  To  his  eternal  honor  Jefferson's  great 
rival  refused  to  lend  his  countenance  to  a  scheme  to  defeat  the 
will  of  the  people,  and  bitterly  as  he  hated  and  distrusted  Jef 
ferson,  he  believed  him  justly  entitled  to  the  office  of  President. 
On  February  nth  the  members  of  both  Houses  assembled  in 


82  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

the  Senate  Chamber  and  the  electoral  vote  was  opened  and 
announced  by  Jefferson,  presiding  over  the  Senate.  Jefferson 
and  Burr  had  carried  six  States — New  York,  Virginia,  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky,  and  had  received 
8  votes  from  Pennsylvania,  5  from  Maryland,  and  8  from  North 
Carolina — a  total  of  73.  Adams  had  carried  the  seven  States 
of  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island, 
Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  and  Delaware,  and  had  received  7 
votes  from  Pennsylvania,  5  from  Maryland,  and  4  from  North 
Carolina: — a  total  of  65.  The  long  apprehended  tie  between 
the  Republican  candidates  had  occurred,  and  the  representa 
tives  returned  to  their  own  chamber  and  proceeded  tO'  ballot 
for  President.  The  rules  governing  this  had  been  previously 
adopted.  The  House  was  to  ballot  for  President  without  inter 
ruption  by  other  business;  the  States  were  to  vote  as  a  whole, 
or  if  there  were  a  tie  in  the  delegations  of  any  State,  its  vote 
was  to  be  marked  as  "divided;"  and  the  votes  of  nine  States,  a 
majority,  were  necessary  to  an  election. 

The  balloting  continued,  at  intervals  of  an  hour,  through  the 
night,  and  until  the  nineteenth  ballot  the  result' was  invariably 
the  same — eight  States  for  Jefferson,  six  for  Burr,  and  two 
equally  divided.  It  was  then  seen  that  the  struggle  \vould  be 
a  long  one,  and,  as  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke  expressed  it, 
"without  adjourning,  the  House  postponed  (like  able  casuists) 
from  day  to  day,  the  balloting."  On  the  morning  of  February 
1 7th,  on  the  thirty-sixth  ballot,  a  choice  was  reached.  Jefferson 
secured  the  votes  of  ten  States,  and  Burr  four.  Two  States, 
Delaware  and  South  Carolina,  deposited  blank  ballots.  Jeffer 
son  was  declared  duly  elected  President,  and  the  tension  of  the 
public  mind  was  relaxed. 

It  is  not  generally  appreciated  how  thoroughly  aroused  Jef 
ferson  was  during  the  struggle.  He  felt  that  he  had  been  chosen 
President  by  the  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  country,  and  that 
unscrupulous  party  manipulators  were  availing  themselves  of 
the  clumsiness  and  inadequacy  of  the  law,  to  defraud  him  of  his 
rights.  Many  Federalist  representatives,  in  their  unwillingness 
to  support  Burr,  were  eagerly  seeking  some  grounds  on  which 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  83 

they  might  give  their  vote  to  Jefferson;  but  he  steadfastly  re 
fused  to  give  them  pledges  as  to  his  future  policies,  or  to  listen 
to  their  overtures.  Hamilton  had  thus  written  to  Wolcott: 
"There  is  no  doubt  that  upon  every  virtuous  and  prudent 
calculation,  Jefferson  is  to  be  preferred.  He  is  by  far  not  so 
dangerous  a  man;  and  he  has  pretensions  to  character.  As  to 
Burr,  there  is  nothing  in  his  favor.  *  *  *  He  is  truly  the 
Catiline  of  America,  *  *  *  Better  will  it  be  to  obtain 
from  Jefferson  assurances  on  some  cardinal  points. 

i  st.  The  preservation  of  the  actual  fiscal  system. 

2d.  Adherence  to  the  neutral  plan. 

3d.  The  preservation  and  gradual  increase  of  the  navy. 

4th.  The  continuance  of  our  friends  in  the  offices  they  fill, 
except  in  the  great  departments,  in  which  he  ought  to  be  left 
free." 

Among  the  many  letters  written  by  Jefferson  during  the  ten 
days  of  the  contest,  the  one  to  Monroe,  February  I5th,  is  the 
most  vigorous  expression  of  his  attitude:  "If  they  could  have 
been  permitted  to  pass  a  law  for  putting  the  government  into 
the  hands  of  an  officer,  they  would  certainly  have  prevented  an 
election.  But  we  thought  it  best  to  declare  openly  and  firmly, 
one  and  all,  that  the  day  such  an  act  passed,  the  Middle  States 
would  arm,  and  that  no<  such  usurpation,  even  for  a  single  day, 
should  be  submitted  to.  This  first  shook  them,  and  they  were 
completely  alarmed  at  the  resource  for  which  \ve  declared,  to 
wit,  a  convention  to  reorganize  the  government  and  to  amend 
it.  The  very  word  convention  gives  them  the  horrors,  as  in  the 
present  democratical  spirit  of  America,  they  fear  they  should 
lose  some  of  the  favorite  morsels  of  the  Constitution.  Many 
attempts  have  been  made  to>  obtain  terms  and  promises  from 
me.  I  have  declared  to  them,  unequivocally,  that  I  would  not 
receive  the  government  on  capitulation,  that  I  would  not  go 
into  it  with  my  hands  tied." 

On  February  28th  Jefferson,  with  a  brief  address  of  farewell, 
retired  from  the  chair  of  the  Senate.  Though  the  four  years 
during  which  he  had  presided  over  that  body  had  been  marked 
by  a  partisan  heat  and  bitterness  hitherto  unknown  in  America, 


84  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

his  conduct  and  rulings  had  not  once  been  made  the  subject 
of  complaint.  The  answer  to  his  address  was  drawn  up  by  his 
enemies.  Despite  that  fact,  and  the  caution  with  which  it  is 
worded,  it  is  truly  complimentary.  It  may  most  fittingly  close 
this  period  of  his  career.  "Sir: — While  we  congratulate  you 
on  those  expressions  of  the  public  will  which  called  you  to  the 
first  office  in  the  United  States,  we  cannot  but  lament  the  loss 
of  that  intelligence,  attention,  and  impartiality  with  which  you 
have  presided  over  our  deliberations.  The  Senate  feel  them 
selves  much  gratified  by  the  sense  you  have  been  pleased  to 
express  of  their  support  in  the  performance  of  your  late  duties. 
Be  persuaded  that  it  will  never  be  withheld  from  a  chief  magis 
trate  who,  in  the  exercise  of  his  office,  shall  be  influenced  by 
a  due  regard  to  the  honor  and  interest  of  our  country. 

"In  the  confidence  that  your  official  conduct  will  be  directed 
to  these  great  objects,  a  confidence  derived  from  past  events, 
we  repeat  to  you,  sir,  the  assurance  of  our  constitutional  sup 
port  in  your  future  administration." 

THE  FIRST  ADMINISTRATION. 

It  was  a  striking  coincidence  that  Jefferson's  induction  into 
office,  marking,  as  it  did,  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  the 
government  of  the  country,  should  be  the  first  one  to  occur  in 
the  new  Capital  City.  The  removal  of  the  offices  of  the  Gov 
ernment  from  Philadelphia  to  Washington  had  taken  place  in 
June,  1800,  and  Congress  had  met  there  in  December  of  that 
year.  Though  for  twelve  years  the  site  for  the  permanent  capi 
tal  had  been  designated,  it  was  still  in  a  rude  and  primitive  state. 
Of  the  residence  intended  for  the  President,  Mrs.  Adams,  the 
first  Lady  of  the  White  House,  wrote  in  the  autumn  of  1800: 
"The  house  is  made  habitable,  but  there  is  not  a  single  apart 
ment  finished.  We  have  not  the  least  fence,  yard,  or  other 
convenience  without,  and  the  great  unfinished  audience-room 
I  make  a  drying  room  of,  to  hang  up  the  clothes  in.  The 
principal  stairs  are  not  up  and  will  not  be  this  winter."  The 
state  of  the  White  House  was  much  improved  when  Jefferson 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  85 

entered  it,  but  as  late  as  May  he  wrote  of  the  town:  'This  may 
be  considered  as  a  pleasant  country  residence  with  a  number 
of  neat  little  villages  scattered  around  within  a  distance  of  a 
mile  and  a  half  and  furnishing  a  plain  and  substantially  good 
society.  They  have  begun  their  buildings  in  about  four  or  five 
different  points,  and  at  each  of  which  there  are  buildings  enough 
to  be  considered  as  a  village.  The  whole  population  is  about 
six  thousand." 

The  primitive  nature  of  the  surroundings  was  not  distasteful 
to  the  newly-elected  President,  and  the  ceremonies  of  his 
inauguration  were  strictly  in  keeping  with  them.  A  half  royal 
dignity  had  characterized  the  inauguration  of  Washington  and 
Adams.  Jefferson  would  have  none  of  this.  The  story,  how 
ever,  that  "he  rode  on  horseback  to  the  Capitol  without  a  single 
guard  or  servant  in  his  train,  dismounted  without  assistance, 
and  hitched  the  bridle  of  his  horse  to  the  palisades,"  rests  solely 
upon  the  assertion  of  an  English  traveler  who  thought  thereby 
to  amuse  his  own  people.  The  facts  were  truly  stated  in  a 
dispatch  of  Mr.  Thornton,  then  in  charge  of  the  British  lega 
tion,  to  Lord  Grenville,  Foreign  Secretary  in  Pitt's  administra 
tion:  "He  came  from  his  own  lodgings  to  the  house  where 
the  Congress  convenes  and  which  goes  by  the  name  of  the 
Capitol,  on  foot,  in  his  ordinary  dress,  escorted  by  a  body  of 
militia  artillery  from  the  neighboring  State,  and  accompanied 
by  the  Secretaries  of  the  Navy  and  the  Treasury  and  a  number 
of  his  political  friends  in  the  House  of  Representatives." 

The  inaugural  ceremonies  were  held  in  the  Senate  Chamber, 
in  the  presence  of  the  national  officials  and  a  throng  of  specta 
tors.  The  address*  was  a  complete  summary  of  his  political 
faith.  It  \vas  lengthy  and  highly  rhetorical,  but  kindly  and 
tolerant.  It  touched  skilfully  upon  the  recent  heated  contest, 
attempted  to  show  why  no  spirit  except  that  of  unity  and  hope 
should  fill  the  bosoms  of  victors  and  vanquished  alike,  and 
enumerated  what  its  author  deemed  "the  essential  principles  of 
our  government."  After  the  inaugural,  Jefferson,  by  a  strange 


*See  text,  page  245. 


86  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

irony,  received  the  oath  of  office  from  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
a  man  whose  political  principles  he  held  in  the  deepest  detesta 
tion.  Adams,  it  was  well  known,  had  thrown  away  all  courtesy 
toward  his  successor  and  had  raised  Marshall  to  his  new  dignity 
after  Jefferson's  election,  with  the  unconcealed  purpose  of 
checking,  in  one  department  of  government  at  least,  the  over 
whelming  tide  of  Jeffersonianism.  Marshall  had  accepted  the 
appointment  with  as  little  scruple  as  it  was  tendered,  and  thus 
was  begun  a  conflict  which  was  to  survive  the  last  trace  of  Fed 
eralism  and  outlive  even  that  particular  form  of  Jeffersonianism 
which  Marshall  was  appointed  to  oppose. 

The  President  selected  as  his  Cabinet  James  Madison  of  Vir 
ginia,  Secretary  of  State;  Albert  Gallatin  of  Pennsylvania,  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury;  Henry  Dearborn  of  Massachusetts, 
Secretary  of  War;  Levi  Lincoln  of  Massachusetts,  Attorney 
General;  Robert  Smith  of  Maryland,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Gideon  Granger  of  Connecticut  was  appointed  Postmaster  Gen 
eral  late  in  the  year.  In  the  selection  of  these  men  Jefferson 
showed  great  skill  and  prudence.  It  was  an  able  and  responsible 
body.  With  the  exception  of  Madison,  they  represented  those 
States  which  were  wavering  in  their  allegiance  to  Federalism, 
and  which  he  thought  could  be  won  to  the  Republican  standard. 
Each  was  chosen  on  the  ground  of  peculiar  fitness.  In  the 
appointment  of  Gallatin,  personal  considerations  reinforced  Jef 
ferson's  appreciation  of  his  ability.  Gallatin  had  suffered  much 
misrepresentation  for  his  connection  with  the  Whisky  Rebel 
lion.  In  Jefferson's  opinion  the  Alien  Act  had  been  aimed  at 
him  as  the  most  eminent  citizen  of  foreign  birth  distasteful  to  the 
Federalists.  His  appointment  was,  therefore,  in  the  nature  of  a 
reward  for  persecution. 

During  the  first  months  of  his  administration  Jefferson  was 
kept  busy  answering  congratulatory  letters  from  individuals 
and  associations  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  It  was  a  task  to 
which  he  addressed  himself  with  undisguised  pleasure,  for  it 
afforded  him  an  opportunity  to  show  his  thorough-going 
democracy.  His  answers  were  reproductions  in  little  of  his 
Inaugural  Address.  He  was  never  weary  of  repeating  his  con- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  87 

fidence  in  the  patriotism  of  the  great  body  of  Federalists.  His 
election,  to  his  mind,  meant  a  new  era  in  the  government  of 
the  United  States  and  even  in  that  of  the  world.  To  his  old 
Revolutionary  friend,  John  Dickinson,  he  wrote:  "A  just  and 
solid  Republican  government  maintained  here  will  be  a  stand 
ing  monument  and  example  for  the  aim  and  imitation  of  the 
people  of  other  countries;  and  I  join  with  you  in  the  hope 
and  belief  that  they  will  see  from  our  example  that  a  free  gov 
ernment  is  of  all  others  the  most  energetic;  that  the  inquiry 
that  has  been  excited  among  the  mass  of  mankind  by  our 
Revolution  and  its  consequence  will  ameliorate  the  condition 
of  man  over  a  great  portion  of  the  globe." 

These  letters  are  also  full  of  a  subject  which  necessarily  arose 
with  the  incoming  of  the  new  party.  It  was  the  subject  of 
removals  from  and  appointments  to  office.*  Jefferson's  atti 
tude  on  this  question  was,  throughout,  one  of  firmness  and  con 
sistency.  When  his  election  by  the  House  of  Representatives 
hung  in  the  balance,  he  had  refused  to  bind  himself  to  retain 
Federalist  office-holders  in  their  positions.  Now  that  he  had 
won,  he  as  stoutly  refused  to  yield  to  the  importunities  of  those 
members  of  his  own  party  who  clamored  for  the  dismissal  of 
their  opponents.  In  assuming  this  position,  the  tolerance  with 
which  he  regarded  the  body  of  Federalists  naturally  played  a 
large  part.  Nevertheless,  he  did  not  see  his  way  to  purchase 
their  favor  by  undue  concessions.  As  early  as  March  7th,  he 
wrote  to  Monroe:  "To  give  time  for  a  perfect  consideration 
seems  prudent.  I  have  firmly  refused  to  follow  the  counsels  of 
those  who  have  desired  the  giving  offices  to  some  of  their 
leaders  in  order  to  reconcile.  I  have  given  and  will  give  only 
to  Republicans  under  existing  circumstances.  *  *  *  Some 
deprivations  of  office  I  know  must  be  made.  They  must  be  as 
few  as  possible,  done  gradually,  and  bottomed  on  some  mal 
versation  or  inherent  disqualification.  Where  we  shall  draw 
the  line  between  retaining  all  and  none  is  not  yet  settled,  and 
will  not  be  till  we  get  our  administration  together;  and  perhaps 


*See  Offices,  page  322.     Also   Nepotism,  page  318;  and  Civil  Service, 
page  156. 


88  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

• 

even  then  we  shall  proceed  a  talons,  balancing  our  measures 
according  to  the  impression  we  perceive  them  to  make."  He 
did  not,  however,  regard  it  as  a  violation  of  this  moderate 
course  to  remove  arbitrarily  such  persons  as  had  been  appointed 
to  office  by  his  predecessor  since  the  election  of  the  preceding 
November.  These  appointments  he  regarded  as  made  in  open 
defiance  of  the  popular  will.  Again  and  again  he  denounced  the 
conduct  of  Adams  in  this  respect.  To  Knox,  his  former  col 
league  in  Washington's  Cabinet,  he  wrote:  "In  the  class  of 
removals  I  do  not  rank  the  new  appointments  which  Mr.  A. 
crowded  in  with  whip  and  spur  from  the  I2th  of  December, 
when  the  event  of  the  election  was  known,  and  consequently 
that  he  was  making  appointments  not  for  himself  but  his  suc 
cessor,  until  nine  o'clock  of  the  night  at  twelve  o'clock  of  which 
he  was  to*  go>  out  of  office.  This  outrage  on  decency  should 
not  have  its  effect  except  in  the  life  appointments  which  are 
irremovable;  but  as  to  the  others  I  consider  the  nominations 
as  nullities,  and  will  not  view  the  persons  appointed  as  even 
candidates  for  their  office,  much  less  as  possessing  it  by  any 
title  meriting  respect.  I  mention  these  things  that  the  grounds 
and  the  extent  of  the  removals  may  be  understood  and  may  not 
disturb  the  tendency  to  union." 

In  reference  to  appointments  to  office  he  wrote  to  his  old 
scientific  friend  Dr.  Rush  of  Philadelphia:  "I  have  no  doubt 
the  Federalists  will  concur  in  the  fairness  of  the  position  that 
after  they  have  been  in  the  exclusive  possession  of  all  offices 
from  the  very  first  origin  of  party  among  us  to  the  3d  of 
March  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  night,  no  Republican  ever  ad 
mitted  and  this  doctrine  newly  avowed,  it  is  now  perfectly  just 
that  the  Republicans  should  come  in  for  the  vacancies  which 
may  fall  in  until  something  like  an  equilibrium  in  office  be 
restored." 

The  most  notable  instance  of  the  application  of  his  views  was 
that  of  the  collectorship  of  New  Haven.  Adams  had  made  an 
appointment  to  the  post  the  day  after  Jefferson's  election.  Jef 
ferson  calmly  ignored  this  appointment  and  dated  a  new  com 
mission  from  the  death  of  the  former  incumbent.  His  appointee 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  89 

had  been  a  most  active  Republican  and  was  peculiarly  odious  to 
the  commercial  element  of  the  city.  A  formal  remonstrance 
was  forwarded  to  Jefferson,  and  this,  coupled  with  the  import 
ance  of  the  office,  moved  him,  for  the  only  time  in  his  career, 
to  send  back  a  reply.  He  was  not  content  with  a  mere  defense 
of  his  appointment;  he  went  further  and  assumed  the  aggres 
sive,  concluding  with  the  words:  "I  shall  correct  the  procedure 
of  Mr.  Adams;  but  that  done,  return  with  joy  to  that  state  of 
things  when  the  only  question  concerning  a  candidate  shall  be, 
Is  he  honest?  Is  he  capable?  Is  he  faithful  to  the  Constitu 
tion?'' 

When  Congress  met  in  December  the  Republicans  had  for 
the  first  time  a  majority  in  both  Houses.  There  proceedings 
wrere  not,  as  under  the  former  administrations,  opened  with  a 
set  speech  from  the  President.  Jefferson  regarded  this  as  the 
chief  of  the  ceremonials  which  he  wished  to  end;  and  he  trans 
mitted  to  each  House  a  written  message,  explaining  in  a  brief 
note  to  the  President  of  the  Senate  his  reasons  for  changing  the 
custom.  This  was  in  harmony  with  a  systematic  plan  to  check 
the  tendency  of  his  predecessors  to  exalt  the  executive  above 
the  legislative  department  and  above  private  citizens.  His 
first  message  was  concerned  entirely  with  domestic  affairs.  The 
note  which  strikes  most  forcibly  the  reader  of  the  present  day 
is  its  advocacy  of  economy*  along  all  lines  of  public  expendi 
ture.  To  this  end  Jefferson  suggested  a  thorough  revision  of 
the  civil  service,  the  army,  and  the  navy.  Significant  sug 
gestions  were  made  as  to  the  action  Congress  might  take  on  the 
judiciary  system,  and  especially  "that  portion  of  it  recently 
erected."  A  revisal  of  the  harsh  naturalization  laws  was  recom 
mended.  Throughout  the  whole  message  it  was  evident  that 
Jefferson  wished  to  undo  as  far  as  possible  the  legislation  of 
the  preceding  administration. 

These  recommendations  were  closely  followed  by  Congress. 
The  very  first  one  of  them  was  a  sharp  rebuke  to  the  Federalists. 
By  an  almost  strict  party  vote,  newspaper  reporters  were  ad- 


*See  Economy,  page  193. 


90  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

mitted  unconditionally  to  the  sessions  of  both  Houses.  This 
was  intended  to  win  to  the  Republican  party  the  press  which, 
except  in  New  England,  had  been  alienated  from  the  Federalists 
by  the  Sedition  Act.  The  Judiciary  Act  of  the  preceding  ses 
sion,  by  which  the  scope  of  the  Federal  courts  had  been  ex 
tended  and  sixteen  circuits  had  been  established,  was  repealed, 
and  a  bill  passed  establishing  six  districts  instead.  The  natu 
ralization  laws  which  had  prevailed  in  Washington's  time  were 
restored.  The  internal  taxes  were  abolished  and  measures  were 
begun  looking  toward  the  gradual  dismissal  of  the  officials 
connected  with  them.  The  army  was  reduced  to  three  thou 
sand  men  and  the  appropriation  for  the  navy  was  made  very 
small.  In  short,  the  legislative  and  executive  departments  were 
as  completely  one  as  Republican  taunts  had  represented  them 
to  be  under  Adams.  Many  of  the  members  of  both  Houses 
were  in  close  personal  touch  with  Jefferson;  and  there  was, 
as  yet,  no  dissatisfaction  with  the  autocratic  power  he  exerted 
over  his  party. 

Before  Congress  adjourned  in  May,  intelligence  had  reached 
the  United  States  which  diverted  the  attention  of  the  President 
from  purely  domestic  affairs,  and  suggested  to  him  a  line  of 
foreign  policy  different  from  that  hitherto  pursued.  News  came 
that  Spain  had  ceded  Louisiana  and  Florida  back  to  France. 
Jefferson  saw  that  his  opportunity  had  come  to  set  about  secur 
ing  control  of  the  Mississippi  River — a  dream  cherished  from 
the  time  of  his  residence  in  France.  Madison  was  at  once 
directed  to  draw  up  for  Livingston,  the  American  Minister  in 
Paris,  instructions  based  upon  a  full  statement  of  the  economic 
and  political  results  which  must  come  from  the  retrocession  of 
Louisiana.*  His  instructions  covered  the  securing  by  the  United 
States  of  just  and  permanent  rights  of  navigation  on  the  Missis 
sippi  and  the  right  of  deposit  near  its  mouth.  The  acquirement 
of  the  island  of  New  Orleans  was  urged.  Jefferson  himself 
added  a  letter,  whose  threatening  tone  differentiated  it  from 
the  cautious  one  of  Madison.  Livingston  was  to  press  the 


*See  Louisiana,  page  298. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  91 

French  Government.  He  was  to  dwell  upon  the  natural  and 
unchangeable  friendship  which  ought  to  prevail  between  the 
two  countries;  but  he  was,  at  the  same  time,  to  emphasize  the 
fact  that  this  friendship  had  been  seriously  imperiled  by  the 
acquisition  by  France  of  New  Orleans — "the  one  single  spot  on 
the  globe  the  possessor  of  which  is  our  natural  and  habitual 
enemy."  Spain,  Jefferson  continued,  might  have  held  it  for 
ever,  unmolested  by  the  United  States;  but  France  was  too 
dangerous  a  neighbor,  because  too  powerful  and  restless.  Pro 
ceeding  from  this  statement  of  facts,  Jefferson  did  not  scruple 
to  avail  himself  of  the  precarious  state  of  the  foreign  relations  of 
France.  "The  day  that  France  takes  possession  of  New  Orleans 
fixes  the  sentence  which  is  to  restrain  her  forever  within  her 
low-water  mark.  It  seals  the  union  of  two  nations  who  in  con 
junction  can  maintain  exclusive  possession  of  the  ocean.  From 
that  moment  we  must  marry  ourselves  to  the  British  fleet  and 
nation."  He  intimated,  however,  the  possibility  of  a  com 
promise  by  which  France  might  retain  the  whole  Louisiana 
Territory  while  ceding  to  the  United  States  the  island  of  New 
Orleans  and  the  Floridas;  but  even  this  he  feared  would  be 
but  a  "temporary  palliation."  He  expected  that  the  reduction  of 
Santo  Domingo,  then  in  fierce  revolt  under  Toussaint  L'Ouver- 
ture  against  the  rule  of  Bonaparte,  would  be  no  short  work, 
and  that  Livingston  would  have  "time  to  return  again  and 
again  to  the  charge." 

This  letter  moved  Livingston  to  the  utmost  exertion.  He 
had  found  all  the  prominent  circles  of  France  hostile  to  his 
country — the  result  of  Talleyrand's  spite — and,  what  more 
nearly  concerned  his  task,  he  had  found  the  colonization  of  the 
Louisiana  Territory  a  favorite  scheme  of  Bonaparte,  for  reasons 
both  of  profit  and  of  sentiment.  At  first,  therefore,  he  made 
but  little  progress  in  his  negotiation.  A  second  communica 
tion  from.  Jefferson,  in  October,  brought  no  definite  instructions 
to  aid  him,  but  merely  expressed  extreme  suspicion  of  France 
and  enjoined  upon  the  Minister  the  utmost  caution. 

A  month  later  an  event  occurred  which  brought  before  the 
public  that  which  had  hitherto  engaged  the  thoughts  of  the 


92  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

President  and  the  Cabinet  alone.  The  Spanish  Intendant  (still 
in  control  in  Louisiana)  withdrew  the  privilege  of  deposit  at 
New  Orleans* — a  privilege  granted  to  citizens  of  the  United 
States  by  the  Treaty  of  1795,  and  not  to  be  taken  away  without 
conceding  "an  equivalent  on  another  part  of  the  bank  of  the 
Mississippi."  This  stipulation  was  wholly  disregarded.  The 
act  caused  the  greatest  excitement  in  the  Western  States. 
Kentucky  was  especially  aroused.  Its  Governor  informed  the 
President  of  the  infraction  of  the  treaty,  and  its  legislature 
memorialized  Congress  in  reference  to  it. 

The  President  was  resolved  not  to  be  forced  into  taking 
premature  action  upon  anything  that  concerned  Louisiana.  It 
was  absolutely  necessary  that  his  plan  should  have  time  to  ripen. 
Though  the  action  of  the  Spanish  Intendant  was  a  matter  of 
universal  discussion,  Jefferson  ignored  it  in  his  message  of 
December,  1802,  and  his  allusion  to  the  retrocession  of  Louisi 
ana  had  little  meaning.  The  House  of  Representatives,  how 
ever,  grew  restless,  and  requested  the  documents  relative  to  the 
action  of  the  Spanish  official.  Jefferson  made  a  feint  of  indulg 
ing  this  request  and  transmitted  to  them  an  account  drawn  up 
by  Madison.  But  this  threw  no  new  light  on  the  matter;  its 
substance  had  long  before  been  printed  in  the  newspapers.  In 
a  word,  Jefferson  was  employing  dilatory  tactics  to  keep  the 
country  quiet.  The  Republicans  connived  at  this  course,  but 
the  Federalists  in  the  House  endeavored  to  force  the  President 
to  disclose  his  policy.  Early  in  June,  they  moved  that  the 
President  be  called  upon  to  produce  all  official  documents  re 
lating  to  the  retrocession  of  Louisiana.  The  Republicans 
rallied  to  their  leader  and  the  motion  was  voted  down.  The 
administration  was  thus  committed  to  a  policy  of  secrecy,  a 
policy  which  the  Republican  party  while  in  opposition  had 
furiously  assailed  when  the  Jay  treaty  was  under  consideration. 

Though  voted  down,  the  Federalists  felt  that  they  had  won  a 
moral  victory,  and  they  immediately  moved  the  passage  of 
strong  resolutions  demanding  for  the  people  of  the  United 
States  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River.  But  the 
majority  had  no  mind  to  let  the  Federalist  party  by  premature 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  93 

action  defeat  the  President's  plans,  or,  if  they  were  successful, 
to  profit  by  them.  They  refused  to  take  up  the  resolutions  of 
the  Federalists  and  passed  a  resolution  of  "perfect  confidence 
in  the  vigilance  and  wisdom  of  the  Executive." 

The  overwhelming  power  of  the  administration  had  been 
shown,  and  all  intermeddling  by  Congress  effectually  checked, 
but  the  popular  pressure  from  the  West  was  daily  increasing, 
and  its  temper  was  seriously  affecting  the  East.  Some  move 
had  to  be  made  by  the  Executive;  and,  on  January  nth,  the 
President  nominated  R.  R.  Livingston  to  be  "Minister  Pleni 
potentiary  and  James  Monroe  to  be  Minister  Extraordinary  and 
Plenipotentiary,  with  full  powers  *  *  *  to  enter  into  a 
treaty  or  convention  with  the  First  Consul  of  France  for  the 
purpose  of  enlarging  and  more  effectually  securing  our  rights 
and  interests  in  the  river  Mississippi  and  in  the  Territories  east 
ward  thereof."  As  Spain  had  not  yet  formally  transferred 
Louisiana,  he  at  the  same  time  nominated  Monroe  and  Charles 
Pinckney  to  have  like  powers  at  the  Court  of  Spain,  if  it  should 
be  necessary.  The  Senate  immediately  confirmed  the  nomina 
tions. 

Jefferson's  letter  to  Monroe,  begging  him  to  accept  the 
appointment,  admitted  that  the  measure  was  aimed,  primarily, 
to  quiet  the  country.  "Remonstrances,  memorials,  etc.,  are  now 
circulating  through  the  whole  of  the  western  country,  and 
signed  by  the  body  of  people.  The  measures  we  have  been 
pursuing,  being  invisible,  do  not  satisfy  their  minds.  Some 
thing  sensible,  therefore,  has  become  necessary.  *  *  *  It 
was  essential,  then,  to  send  a  Minister  Extraordinary  to  be 
joined  with  the  ordinary  one,  with  discretionary  powers.  *  *  * 
The  measure  has  already  silenced  the  Federalists  here.  Con 
gress  will  no  longer  be  agitated  by  them;  and  the  country 
will  become  calm  as  fast  as  the  information  extends  over  it." 
That  Jefferson  was  trying  to  gain  time  and  was  playing  home 
politics  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  Monroe  did  not  get  his  in 
structions  and  sail  before  the  second  week  of  March. 

The  Federalist  opposition  was  now  centered  in  fanning  the 
war  spirit  of  the  West  against  Spain.  $2,000,000  had  been 


94  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

appropriated,  in  secret  session,  "to  defray  the  expenses  which 
might  be  incurred  in  relation  to  the  intercourse  between  the 
United  States  and  foreign  nations."  This  the  Federalists  at 
tacked  as  designed  for  corruption  money  at  the  Courts  of 
France  and  Spain.  The  administration,  they  claimed,  was 
sacrificing  the  interests  of  the  western  States  and  was  meekly 
purchasing  that  which,  by  a  rigorous  policy,  would  be  ours  of 
right.  But  their  assaults  had  little  effect.  At  no  other  period 
of  his  career  was  Jefferson's  personal  influence  more  clearly 
shown  than  now,  when,  without  a  definite  policy,  and  without 
committing  himself  to  a  single  promise,  he  held  in  check  the 
restless  West. 

Monroe's  instructions  covered  merely  the  securing  of  the 
island  of  New  Orleans  and  the  Floridas.  Failing  in  this  he  was 
to  stipulate  for  the  right  of  deposit  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi.  So  moderate  were  Jefferson's  demands  that  he  did 
not  stickle  for  the  precise  place  of  deposit.  If  New  Orleans 
could  not  be  secured,  Natchez  would  be  a  satisfactory  substi 
tute.  The  French  were  to  be  admitted  to  Louisiana  without 
condition.  The  instructions  contained  nothing  that  Bonaparte 
could  have  regarded  as  in  the  least  hostile  to  his  plans.  No 
provision  was  made  for  action  in  case  Bonaparte  should  refuse 
the  concessions  asked.  Indeed,  Jefferson  did  not  want  action. 
It  was  after  Monroe  had  landed  in  France  that  Madison,  by 
the  President's  direction,  instructed  Monroe  and  Livingston, 
as  soon  as  they  should  find  that  no  arrangements  could  be  made 
with  France,  "to  use  all  possible  procrastination  with  them, 
and  in  the  meantime  to  enter  into  conference  with  the  British 
Government,  through  their  ambassador  at  Paris,  to  fix  prin 
ciples  of  alliance,  and  leave  us  in  peace  till  Congress  meets;  and 
prevent  war  till  next  spring." 

But  Monroe  and  Livingston  had  closed  the  matter  before 
these  last  instructions  left  America.  Indeed,  none  of  the  in 
structions  which  Monroe  actually  bore  with  him  had  any  bearing 
on  the  final  agreement  with  France.  On  reaching  Paris,  he 
found  that  events  had  brought  the  negotiations  to  a  point 
beyond  his  power  to  make  or  mar  them.  In  January,  the  news 


OF  THOMAS   JEFFERSON  95 

had  reached  Paris  that  the  French  army  in  Santo  Domingo 
was  annihilated,  the  island  devastated,  and  the  rebellious  blacks 
further  beyond  control  than  they  had  ever  been.  To  recover 
the  island  would  now  cost  far  more  than  it  was  worth.  With  it 
lost,  Louisiana,  which  Bonaparte  intended  should  feed  and 
fortify  it,  was  of  no  further  use  to  him,  and  the  abandonment 
of  Louisiana  would  serve  well  to  cloak  the  abandonment  of 
Santo  Domingo.  Giving  up  Santo  Domingo  meant  the  sever 
ance  of  French  traditions,  and  the  confession  of  failure  in  an 
enterprise  upon  which  the  pride  of  the  nation  was  staked. 
Bonaparte  kept  up  appearances  of  a  vigorous  colonial  policy 
several  months  longer,  but  his  mind  was  made  up  to  withdraw 
from  the  island.  He  declared  the  long  contemplated  war  against 
England  and  sounded  Talleyrand  as  to  the  expediency  of  selling 
Louisiana.  The  wily  Minister  divined  the  wish  of  his  master 
and  hurried  negotiations.  Livingston  wrote  to  Madison:  "Mr. 
Talleyrand  asked  me  this  day,  when  pressing  the  subject, 
whether  we  wished  to  have  the  whole  of  Louisiana.  I  told  him 
no,  that  our  wishes  extended  only  to  New  Orleans  and  the 
Floridas;  that  the  policy  of  France,  however,  should  dictate  to 
give  us  the  country  above  the  River  Arkansas  in  order  to  place 
a  barrier  between  them  and  Canada.  He  said  that  if  they  gave 
New  Orleans  the  rest  would  be  of  little  value,  and  that  he  would 
wish  to  know  'what  we  would  give  for  the  whole.'  I  told  him 
it  was  a  subject  I  had  not  thought  of,  but  that  I  supposed  we 
should  not  object  to  twenty  millions  (francs)  provided  our  citi 
zens  were  paid.  He  told  me  this  was  too  low  an  offer.  I  told 
him  that  as  Mr.  Monroe  would  be  in  town  in  two  days,  I  would 
delay  my  further  offer  until  I  had  the  pleasure  of  introducing 
him." 

On  Monroe's  arrival,  he  and  Livingston  passed  a  week 
haggling  over  the  price  named  by  Bonaparte — one  hundred 
millions  of  francs  and  the  payment  by  America  of  their  own 
citizens'  claims.  The  American  envoys  finally  succeeded  in 
reducing  it  to  sixty  millions,  and  the  payment  of  claims  to  the 
amount  of  twenty  millions  more — a  tctal  cf  $15,000,000. 

To  Livingston  more  than  to  any  ether  man  was  due  a  diplo- 


96  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

matic  success  whicn  no  other  American  envoy  has  ever  been 
able  to  duplicate.  Events,  it  is  true,  had  conspired  to  bring  it 
about;  but,  so  far  as  one  man  could  by  prudence  and  discretion 
avail  himself  of  events,  Livingston  had  done  so.  Monroe's 
popularity  in  France  had  added  absolutely  no  weight  to  the 
mission.  Hardly,  however,  had  the  treaty  been  signed  and  dis 
patched  to  America,  before  Livingston  felt  that  Monroe  was 
destined  to  enjoy  the  credit  of  it.  The  news  from  America 
served  only  to  confirm  this  apprehension.  Even  the  President, 
complacently  identifying  his  own  claims  with  Monroe's,  lent 
his  personal  influence  to  appreciate  Monroe's  services  to  the 
disparagement  of  Livingston's.  He  wrote  General  Gates:  "I 
find  our  opposition  is  very  willing  to  pluck  feathers  from  Mon 
roe,  although  not  fond  of  sticking  them  into  Livingston's  coat. 
The  truth  is,  both  have  a  just  portion  of  merit;  and  were  it 
necessary  or  proper,  it  would  be  shown  that  each  has  rendered 
peculiar  services  and  of  important  value.  These  grumblers,  too, 
are  very  uneasy  lest  the  administration  should  share  some  little 
credit  for  the  acquisition,  the  whole  of  which  they  ascribe  to 
the  accident  of  war.  They  would  be  cruelly  mortified  could 
they  see  our  files  from  May,  1801,  the  first  organization  of  the 
administration,  but  more  especially  from  April,  1802.  They 
would  see  that  though  we  could  not  say  when  war  would  arise, 
yet  we  said  with  energy  what  would  take  place  when  it  should 
arise.  We  did  not,  by  our  intrigues,  produce  the  war;  but  we 
availed  ourselves  of  it  when  it  happened."  Such  also  was  the 
tone  of  the  correspondence  maintained  among  the  partisans  of 
the  President.  From  June  3Oth,  when  the  news  was  divulged, 
nothing  was  heard  but  praise  of  the  great  leader  who  had 
brought  about  such  magnificent  results;  and  Jefferson  could 
hardly  have  been  expected  to  exert  himself  to  disabuse  the 
public  mind.  Those  of  the  Republicans  who  had  their  mis 
givings  kept  them  to  themselves;  and  the  murmurings  of  the 
Federalist  opposition  were  drowned  in  "the  cheers  and  con 
gratulations  of  the  happiest  society  the  world  then  knew." 

But  amid  it  all  the  Republican  leaders  could  not  lose  sight  of 
their  own  inconsistency.    Such  an  extension  of  Executive  power 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  97 

was  totally  at  variance  with  the  rigidly  strict  construction  of 
the  Constitution  which  they  had  taught  so  long.  Jefferson  him 
self  felt  that  he  had  overstepped  the  bounds  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  called  an  extra  session  of  Congress.  To  Breckenridge, 
a  member  of  this  Congress,  he  wrote:  "Both  Houses,  I  pre 
sume,  will  see  their  duty  to  their  country  in  ratifying  and  paying 
for  it,  so  as  to  secure  a  good  which  would  otherwise  probably 
be  never  again  in  their  power.  But  I  suppose  they  must  then  ap 
peal  to  the  nation  for  an  additional  article  to  the  Constitution 
approving  and  confirming  an  act  which  the  nation  had  not 
previously  authorized.  The  Constitution  has  made  no  provision 
for  our  holding  foreign  territory,  still  less  for  incorporating 
foreign  nations  into  our  Union.  The  Executive,  in  seizing 
the  fugitive  occurrence  which  so  much  advances  the  good  of 
his  country,  has  done  that  beyond  the  Constitution.  The 
Legislature,  in  casting  behind  them-  metaphysical  subtleties 
and  risking  themselves  like  faithful  servants,  must  ratify  and  pay 
for  it  and  throw  themselves  on  their  country.  It  is  the  case 
of  a  guardian  investing  the  money  of  his  ward  in  purchasing  an 
important  adjacent  territory,  and  saying  to  him,  when  of  age, 
'I  did  this  for  your  good;  I  pretend  to  no  right  to  bind  you, 
you  may  disavow  me  and  I  must  get  out  of  the  scrape  as  I  can; 
I  thought  it  my  duty  to  risk  myself  for  you.' '  He  sketched 
to  the  Attorney-General  the  form  of  the  amendment  he  desired, 
but  concluded:  "I  quote  this  for  your  consideration,  observing 
that  the  less  that  is  said  about  any  constitutional  difficulty  the 
better;  and  that  it  will  be  desirable  for  Congress  to  do  what 
is  necessary  in  silence.  I  find  but  one  opinion  as  to  the  neces 
sity  of  shutting  up  the  country  for  some  time." 

A  week  later  he  wrote,  still  more  urgently,  to  Nicholas,  one 
of  the  Senators  from  Virginia:  "You  will  observe  a  hint  in 
Monroe's  letter,  enclosed,  to  do  without  delay  what  we  are 
bound  to  do.  There  is  reason,  in  the  opinion  of  our  Ministers, 
to  believe  that  if  the  thing  were  to  do  over  again  it  could  not 
be  obtained  and  that,  if  we  give  the  least  opening,  they  will 
declare  the  treaty  void.  *  *  *  Whatever  Congress  shall 
think  it  necessary  to  do,  should  be  done  with  as  little  debate  as 


98  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

possible,  and  particularly  so  far  as  respects  constitutional  diffi 
culty.  I  had  rather  ask  an  enlargement  of  power  from  the 
nation,  where  it  is  found  necessary,  than  to  assume  it  by  a  con 
struction  which  would  make  our  powers  boundless.  Our  pecul 
iar  security  is  in  the  possession  of  a  written  Constitution.  Let 
us  not  make  it  a  blank  paper  by  construction.!  *  *  *  If, 
however,  our  friends  shall  think  differently,  certainly  I  shall 
acquiesce  with  satisfaction,  confiding  that  the  good  sense  of  our 
country  will  correct  the  evil  of  construction  when  it  shall  pro 
duce  ill  effects." 

The  President's  message  to  Congress  reviewed  the  negotia 
tions  leading  up  to  the  purchase,  but  had  not  a  word  to  say  of 
any  constitutional  obstacle  to  its  ratification.  The  question  of 
constitutionality  he  shifted  to  the  shoulders  of  others.  The 
ensuing  debate  shows  how  closely  the  arguments  of  the  opposi 
tion  unconsciously  followed  the  lines  of  Jefferson's  secret  ad 
missions  to  his  friends.  John  Randolph,  the  administrative 
leader,  moved  that  the  treaty  be  carried  into  effect,  and  it  was 
immediately  taken  up.  The  speeches  of  the  opposition  taxed 
the  powers  of  the  best  Republican  debaters.  They  skilfully  con 
centrated  their  attacks  upon  the  very  feature  of  the  treaty  on 
which  its  advocates  knew  themselves  to  be  weakest — the 
pledge  to  admit  the  people  of  Louisiana  into-  the  Union.  But 
no  logic  or  oratory  could  shake  the  determination  of  the 
majority.  The  passage  of  Randolph's  resolution  was  a  fore 
gone  conclusion;  and  after  one  day's  debate,  it  was  passed  by  a 
strict  party  vote  of  90  to  25. 

The  debate  in  the  Senate  followed  much  the  same  lines  as  in 
the  House,  with  the  exception  of  two  speeches.  Tracy,  of  Con 
necticut,  gave  a  sectional  turn  to  it  by  declaring  that  "the  relative 
strength  which  this  admission  gives  to  a  southern  and  western 
interest  is  contradictory  to  the  principles  of  our  original  Union. 
To  admit  Louisiana — a  world,  and  such  a  world — into  our 
Union  would  be  absorbing  the  Northern  States."  John  Quincy 
Adams,  elected  as  a  moderate  Federalist,  held  a  unique  view. 


tSee  Constitutionality,  page  174. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  99 

He  was  Republican  in  favoring  the  purchase;  Federalist  in  argu 
ing  that  the  treaty  was  outside  of  the  Constitution;  Jeffersonian, 
finally,  in  trying  to  save  the  old  theory  of  the  Constitution  and 
in  urging  an  amendment  to  that  instrument.  The  debate  in 
the  Senate  was,  on  the  Federalist  side,  more  vigorous  and  able 
than  it  had  been  in  the  House,  and  the  Republican  Senators 
were  driven  to  an  embarrassment  they  could  not  hide.  The 
bill  passed  again  by  a  strict  party  vote. 

Thus  the  treaty  was  ratified;  but  the  constitutional  difficulty 
was  still  unsettled.  The  dominant  party  had  simply  allowed 
the  magnitude  of  the  interest  at  stake  to  over-shadow  all  other 
considerations.  They  had  not  had  the  candor  to  acknowledge 
that  the  Constitution  had  provided  for  no  such  case  nor  the 
courage  and  consistency  to  go  before  the  States  for  instructions. 
The  acquisition  doubled  the  area  of  the  country  and  secured 
control  of  all  the  great  river  systems  of  North  America.  It 
was  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the  overwhelming  majority  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  dazzled  by  a  material  gain  so 
stupendous,  were  in  no  mind  to  engage  in  hair-splitting  refine 
ments  over  constitutional  difficulties,  or  in  gloomy  forebodings 
as  to  the  viciousness  of  the  precedent  thus  set. 

In  March,  1804,  a  bill  conferring  upon  the  President  auto 
cratic  power  for  the  government  of  the  purchased  territory 
was  forced  through  Congress.  The  pledge  to  France  that  the 
people  of  Louisiana  should  be  admitted  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States  was  kept  only  in  so  far  as  it  granted  an  ultimate  possi 
bility  of  attaining  statehood;  but  in  the  intermediate  stage 
the  pledge  was  certainly  violated,  for  the  territorial  government 
established  was  one  in  which  the  people  of  Louisiana  had  abso 
lutely  no  share. 

Congress,  in  1804,  for  the  first  time,  was  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  matter  of  impeachment.  The  President  had  submitted 
letters  and  affidavits  against  Pickering,  a  Federal  judge,  charg 
ing  him  with  drunkenness  and  illegal  and  disorderly  conduct. 
Judge  Pickering,  though  summoned,  did  not  appear,  but  a  peti 
tion  was  presented  from  his  son  begging  a  postponement 
of  the  proceedings  in  order  that  proof  of  his  insanity  might 


100  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

be  collected.  The  petition  was  refused,  but  convincing  testi 
mony  of  his  insanity  was  admitted.  As  the  Judge  had  not  re 
signed,  the  Senate  felt  justified  in  proceeding  with  the  trial. 
Pickering  was  declared  "guilty  as  charged,"  and  was  removed 
from  office.  The  House  also  ordered  articles  of  impeachment 
to  be  drawn  up  against  Samuel  Chase,  one  of  the  Associate  Jus 
tices  of  the  Supreme  court,  and  his  trial  was  set  for  the  next 
session.  Though  not  originating  writh  the  President,  as  had 
the  trial  of  Pickering,  the  measure  was  known  to  be  acceptable 
to  him,  for  he  had  been  among  the  first  to  call  attention  to  a 
charge  delivered  by  Judge  Chase  to  the  grand  jury  at  Baltimore 
in  April,  1803.  Chase  had  taken  occasion  to  denounce  from 
the  bench  the  democratic  tendencies  of  the  Government,  an 
act  which  Jefferson  deemed  a  "seditious  and  official  attack  on 
the  principles  of  our  Constitution  and  on  the  proceedings  of  a 
State." 

Before  Congress  adjourned  in  the  spring  of  1804,  the  Repub 
lican  caucus  unanimously  re-nominated  Jefferson  for  President. 
Burr  was  completely  ignored  as  a  candidate  for  the  second  place, 
and  George  Clinton,  of  New  York,  was  named.  The  Federalist 
caucus  put  forward  C.  C.  Pinckney,  of  South  Carolina,  for  Presi 
dent  and  Rufus  King,  of  New  York,  for  Vice-President. 

Immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  Jefferson  was 
summoned  to  Monticello  by  the  illness  of  his  younger  daughter, 
Mrs.  Eppes.  She  died  on  April  I7th,  leaving  two  young  children. 
Jefferson  in  the  loss  of  this  child  experienced  a  sorrow  such  as 
he  had  not  felt  since  the  death  of  his  wife.  Letters  of  condolence 
poured  in  from  his  early  friends,  among  them  one  from  Mrs. 
John  Adams,  in  whose  care  Mrs.  Eppes  had  been  placed  when, 
as  a  child  of  ten  years,  she  had  sailed  to  join  her  father,  then 
Minister  to  France.  Adams  himself  had  felt  great  bitterness 
against  Jefferson  since  the  inauguration  of  the  latter,  and  Mrs. 
Adams  shared  in  her  husband's  bitterness,  but  sincere  grief  and 
sympathy  enabled  her  to  overcome  her  hesitation.  Jefferson 
replied  in  a  most  affectionate  strain,  and  a  correspondence  en 
sued  in  which  were  reviewed  the  causes  of  the  alienation  be 
tween  two  men  once  so  close  to  each  other.  But  Mrs.  Adams 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  IOI 

was  still  unsatisfied,  and  the  correspondence  ceased.  It  seemed 
devoid  of  results  at  the  time,  but  in  years  to  come  it  formed 
the  basis  of  a  lasting  reconciliation. 

Before  the  Presidential  election,  the  constitutional  amend 
ment  changing  the  method  of  voting  for  President  and  Vice- 
President,  had  been  adopted  by  every  State.  Under  its  work 
ings  Jefferson  and  Clinton  icceived  162  electoral  votes  and 
Pinckney  and  King  only  14. 

The  event  of  the  session  of  the  Congress  that  met  in  No 
vember  was  the  impeachment  trial  of  Justice  Chase.  In  Feb 
ruary,  1805,  the  case  was  opened  in  the  Senate  Chamber  by 
the  managers  from  the  House.  From  the  beginning  the  Re 
publican  prosecution  had  recognized  that  they  had  attempted 
too  much.  They  themselves  were  uncertain  in  their  views  of 
what  an  impeachment  meant,  and  even  the  charges  embraced 
no  offense  known  to  the  statute  books  or  to  the  common  law. 
The  array  of  counsel  for  the  defendant  far  outweighed  that  of 
the  prosecution  in  talents  and  legal  learning.  As  in  the  trial 
of  Pickering,  so  now,  the  form  in  which  the  Senate  should  put 
its  final  judgment  was  of  vital  importance.  The  Senate  agreed 
that  it  should  answer  the  question,  "Is  Samuel  Chase  guilty 
or  not  guilty  of  a  high  crime  or  misdemeanor  as  charged  in  the 
article  just  read?"  When  they  came  to  a  vote,  the  Senate  ac 
quitted  the  defendant  on  every  charge,  nearly  one-fourth  of  the 
Republican  Senators  voting  in  the  negative.  John  Randolph 
was  deeply  chagrined  at  the  result.  Jefferson  had  held  himself 
aloof  from  the  trial,  and  his  correspondence  does  not  show 
that  he  was  in  the  least  irritated  or  disappointed  by  the  acquittal. 
His  indifference  cut  Randolph,  whose  heart  was  set  upon  a  con 
viction,  to  the  quick,  and  from  the  trial  of  Chase  may  be  dated 
the  beginning  of  the  fierce  and  dramatic  opposition  which  Ran 
dolph  led  against  the  President. 

THE  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 

On  March  4th,  1805,  Jefferson  for  the  second  time  took  the  oath 
of  office  as  President  of  the  United  States.  His  inaugural  was 


102  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

merely  a  review  of  the  administration  just  ended,  and  was  far 
below  his  first  inaugural  in  breadth  and  power.  Touching-  the 
Louisiana  purchase,  he  adopted  the  broad  and  indefinite  ground 
on  which  Congress  had  confirmed  it,  and  gave  no  intimation 
that  he  had  ever  held  a  different  view.  "I  know,"  said  he,  "that 
the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  has  been  disapproved  by  some  from 
a  candid  apprehension  that  the  enlargement  of  our  territory 
would  endanger  its  union.  But  who  can  limit  the  extent  to 
which  the  federative  principle  may  operate  effectively?  The 
larger  our  association,  the  less  will  it  be  shaken  by  local  passions; 
and  in  any  view,  is  it  not  better  that  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
Mississippi  should  be  settled  by  our  own  brethren  and  children, 
than  by  strangers  of  another  family?" 

The  summer  of  1805  saw  concluded  the  Tripolitan  war.  In 
the  conduct  of  this  war  the  President  had,  for  four  years,  sys 
tematically  reversed  his  cherished  policy  of  peace.  The  war 
had  been  marked  by  splendid  deeds  of  courage  on  the  part  of 
the  little  navy.  After  a  long  series  of  hostilities,  Dernah,  the 
second  city  of  importance  in  Tripoli,  had  been  captured  by  a  co 
operation  of  the  American  forces  with  Hamet,  the  rightful 
Pasha,  against  his  usurping  brother  Jussuff.  The  expedition 
was  conducted  by  Gen.  Eaton,  United  States  Consul  at  Tunis. 
Despite  the  uniform  success  of  the  American  arms,  however, 
the  United  States  Consul  General  at  Algiers  weakly  concluded 
with  Jussuff  a  treaty  which  deserted  Hamet,  compelled  Eaton  to 
quit  Dernah,  and,  though  it  relieved  the  United  States  Govern 
ment  of  further  payment  of  tribute,  it  did  so  only  on  the  condi 
tion  of  paying  to  the  pirate  nation  $60,000  for  the  ransom  of  the 
officers  and  crew  of  the  "Philadelphia."  The  four  years'  war 
had  cost  heavily  in  money  and  lives,  but  the  navy  had  gained 
what  it  lacked  before — discipline  and  experience  in  real  fighting. 
These  results,  however,  were  not  in  Jefferson's  mind  when  he 
began  it,  and  the  final  treaty  to  which  he  gave  his  consent  was 
no  more  than  a  compromise. 

Hardly  had  Jefferson  been  inaugurated  before  relations,  not 
only  with  England,  but  with  France  and  Spain,  assumed  a  ser 
ious  aspect.  In  the  early  summer  of  1805,  there  were  indications 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  103 

that  France,  now  under  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  was  inciting 
Spain  to  make  trouble  over  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  under  the 
pretext  of  uncertainty  as  to  the  boundaries  of  the  territory 
conveyed.  Jefferson  was  for  applying  the  old  threat  of  a  mari 
time  alliance  with  England;  but  as  Spain  became  more  insolent 
on  the  southwestern  frontier,  he  gave  up  the  idea  of  coercing 
Napoleon,  and  determined  to  ask  his  mediation  for  purchasing 
the  two  Floridas  from  Spain.  He  did  not  dare  to  suggest  the 
purchase  to  Congress  formally,  but  sent  to  the  House  a  batch  of 
papers  bearing  on  the  matter,  with  an  injunction  of  secrecy. 
John  Randolph  as  chairman  of  the  committee  to  which  they 
were  referred,  learned  the  President's  plan  in  an  interview  with 
him.  He  refused  utterly  to  give  it  his  sanction  and,  heading 
a  few  dissatisfied  members,  called  the  "Quids,"  broke  from  the 
government.  He  was  supported  by  the  Federalists  for  the  rest 
of  the  session.  In  spite  of  this  alliance,  however,  the  President 
had  a  bill  for  the  purchase  forced  through  both  Houses. 

In  the  meantime  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  had  occurred  October 
2  ist,  1805,  and  Napoleon's  sea  power  had  been  annihilated.  Jef 
ferson,  nevertheless,  continued  to  conciliate  him,  and  had  a 
bill  passed  prohibiting  all  trade  with  any  port  in  the  island  of 
Santo  Domingo  over  which  the  French  flag  did  not  fly.  Eng 
land  now  set  herself  to  ruin  the  American  carrying  trade,  which 
in  the  last  few  years  had  come  to  be  almost  the  only  means 
of  communication  between  the  nations  of  Europe  and  their 
colonial  dependencies.  She  established  blockades  of  all  French 
colonies,  and  later  of  the  Straits  of  Dover  and  the  English  chan 
nel.  All  rights  of  neutrals  were  at  an  end.  All  previous  de 
cisions  of  the  Admiralty  Courts  of  England  touching  American 
shipping  were  reversed,  and  seizure  and  confiscation  in  all  waters 
were  the  order  of  the  day.  The  distress  among  the  seafaring 
and  commercial  citizens  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  was  extreme, 
and  Congress  was  besieged  with  memorials,  petitions,  and  ex 
hortations  for  relief.  Jefferson  left  the  problem  with  Congress. 
After  months  of  debate  and  uncertainty,  Congress  passed  a  Non- 
Importation  Bill,  forbidding  the  importation  of  certain  articles 
from  England  and  her  dependencies,  after  November  I5th,  1806. 


104  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

The  measure  met  the  fiercest  opposition  from  Randolph's  fol 
lowers  and  the  Federalists. 

Randolph's  defection  was  not  unexpected.  He  had  been  rest 
less  ever  since  the  consummation  of  the  Louisiana  purchase; 
and  the  indifference  of  the  President  to  the  outcome  of  the 
trial  of  Justice  Chase  had  sorely  wounded  him  in  his  most  vul 
nerable  point — his  vanity.  Jefferson  affected  to  despise  his  op 
position  on  the  ground  of  his  well  known  unreliability  and  vacil 
lation,  but  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  President  at  first 
looked  with  real  alarm  upon  this  defection.  It  was  the  first  to 
occur,  after  a  whole  administration  of  concord;  and  its  head 
was  the  former  administrative  leader  in  the  House.  When, 
however,  its  harmless  character  was  shown  by  the  overwhelm 
ing  majority  which  the  administration  at  all  times  controlled, 
Randolph  turned  to  intrigues  by  which  he  hoped  to  defeat  one 
of  the  President's  cherished  plans.  Early  in  1805,  Jefferson  had 
made  known  his  intention  of  retiring  at  the  end  of  his  second 
term,  and  it  was  understood  that  he  favored  Madison  as  his 
successor.  Randolph  had  a  profound  contempt  for  Madison, 
and  he  immediately  took  up  Monroe,  then  at  Madrid,  as  an  op 
position  candidate.  He  wrote  Monroe  letters  couched  in  terms 
of  most  arrant  flattery.  Monroe,  however,  was  too  cautious  to 
antagonize  the  President;  and  all  Randolph's  communications 
\vere  made  known  to  Jefferson.  While  Jefferson  did  not  fear 
Randolph  alone,  he  would  have  feared  Randolph  if  aided  by 
Monroe;  and  his  letters  to  Monroe  cautioned  him  to  be  wary  of 
Randolph.  Thus  there  was  forced  upon  the  President  a  course 
of  petty  intrigue  to-  which  he  had  been  a  stranger  during  his 
first  administration. 

An  event  now  occurred  which  inflamed  the  country's  irrita 
tion  against  England.  British  warships  had  for  months  been 
cruising  around  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  stopping  coast 
ers,  seizing  merchant-men,  searching  all  ships  for  deserters,  and 
impressing  citizens  of  the  United  States.  All  these  indignities 
had  been  tamely  borne,  but  in  April,  1806,  an  outrage  was  per 
petrated  which  could  not  be  overlooked.  A  warship,  the  Lean- 
der,  without  provocation  fired  into  a  coasting  vessel  off  Sandy 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  105 

Hook  and  killed  one  of  her  crew.  The  most  intense  excitement 
ensued.  The  President  immediately  issued  a  proclamation  call 
ing  for  the  arrest  of  the  Lcandcr's  commander,  and  prohibiting 
the  furnishing  of  all  supplies  to  her  and  to  two  other  British 
vessels  in  her  company.  The  United  States  Minister  in  England 
was  immediately  notified  and  instructed  as  to  what  reparation 
to  demand  from  that  government. 

In  the  midst  of  such  disturbed  foreign  relations,  Jefferson's 
Government  was  menaced  by  a  danger  at  home,  which 
seemed  to  strike  at  the  very  integrity  of  the  Union.  Aaron 
Burr  was  again  to  figure  as  the  evil  genius  of  the  administra 
tion.  As  Vice-President  he  had  been  regarded  as  a  man  with 
out  a  party;  his  ambition  in  New  York  State  had  been  thwarted 
by  Hamilton;  and  he  had  killed  Hamilton  in  a  duel.  Though 
under  indictment  for  murder,  he  sat  as  Vice-President  during 
the  session  of  1804-5;  and  in  the  early  spring  of  1805,  he  had 
gone  west,  avowing  to  his  intimates  that  he  had  forever  done 
with  life  in  the  United  States.  Many  rumors  were  current  as 
to  the  projects  on  which  he  was  engaged,  but  men  agreed  in 
ascribing  to  him  plans  for  the  conquest  of  Mexico  from  Spain. 
It  was  also  a  matter  of  common  report  that  he  had  spent  much 
time  with  General  Wilkinson,  the  commander  of  the  Army  in 
the  Western  Territory,  and  with  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  then 
in  civilian  life  at  Nashville,  Tennessee.  In  November,  1805, 
he  had  returned  to  Washington  and  remained  there  several 
months,  sounding  every  officer  of  the  Army  and  Navy  suspected 
of  disaffection  to  the  administration.  So  cautious,  however, 
had  he  been,  that  while  none  embraced  his  schemes,  none 
thought  it  necessary  to  warn  the  government. 

In  August,  1806,  Burr  again  went  west,  and  purchased  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  Kentucky.  News  came  that  the  new  estate 
was  the  scene  of  extensive  preparations  for  a  military  expedition. 
Jefferson  was  not  entirely  ignorant  of  Burr's  movements,  for  one 
Daveiss,  the  United  States  Attorney  for  the  District  of  Ken 
tucky,  had  written  to  him  several  times  in  regard  to  them. 
But  Daveiss'  information  had  not  alarmed  him.  He  was  for 
the  first  time  put  seriously  on  his  guard  by  an  interview  which 


106  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

Gen.  Eaton,  of  Tripoli  fame,  sought  with  him  in  September, 
1806.  Eaton  was  said  to  feel  aggrieved  at  the  failure  of  the 
government  to  recognize  the  value  of  his  services  in  Africa. 
He  had  been  approached  by  Burr  in  Washington  and  had  not 
been  averse  to  listening  to  him.  He  now  warned  the  President, 
but  so  guardedly  as  to  offer  no  sure  ground  for  executive  action. 

Toward  the  last  of  October,  more  specific  information  came 
from  the  West.  Burr's  agents  made  no  concealment  of  estab 
lishing  a  military  encampment  near  Marietta,  Ohio.  There 
they  were  joined  by  armed  parties  from  up  the  river.  Various 
explanations  were  given  of  their  destination.  Some  openly  de 
clared  that  the  purpose  of  the  expedition  embraced  the  separa 
tion  of  the  West  from  the  Union. 

In  view  of  this  definite  information,  and  of  the  steadily  increas 
ing  rumors,  the  President  now  dispatched  to  the  scene  a  special 
agent,  empowered  to  call  into  service  the  military  as  well  as  the 
civil  authority  of  the  Territory  should  the  necessity  arise.  Or 
ders  were  also  sent  to  the  Governors  of  the  Orleans  and  Missis 
sippi  Territories,  and  to  the  commanders  of  the  land  and  naval 
forces  operating  in  them,  enjoining  them  to  be  on  the  alert  to 
check  all  infringements  of  the  neutrality  laws.  Special  instruc 
tions  were  sent  to  Gen.  Wilkinson  in  order  to  show  him  that 
he  was  under  surveillance,  and  if  possible  to  hold  him  loyal. 
But  Wilkinson  had  already  grown  alarmed  and  had  determined 
to  reinstate  himself  with  the  government.  With  500  soldiers 
he  was  encamped  at  Nachitoches  prepared  to  oppose  a  threat 
ened  Spanish  irruption.  Burr  had  been  in  steady  communica 
tion  with  him  and  had  fully  unfolded  his  plans  to  him.  Wil 
kinson  now  forwarded  all  these  communications  to  the  Presi 
dent,  who  on  the  strength  of  them  issued  a  proclamation  that 
certain  preparations  had  been  set  on  foot  against  the  dominions 
of  Spain  in  North  America,  and  calling  upon  all  good  citizens 
and  all  the  officers  of  the  United  States,  within  their  respective 
functions,  to  aid  in  bringing  the  conspirators  to  judgment. 
There  was  no  mention  of  Burr's  name,  nor  of  any  designs 
against  the  integrity  of  the  Union.  Orders  for  immediate  and 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  107 

summary  action  were  also  sent  along  with  the  proclamation. 
All  Burr's  men  and  stores  were  to  be  seized. 

It  was  not  long  before  matters  took  on  a  serious  aspect. 
Either  from  the  connivance  or  the  blundering  of  the  judicial 
officers  of  the  West,  Burr's  movement  seemed  to  be  gaining 
ground.  Daveiss  was  a  vigorous  officer,  and  early  in  November 
he  had  made  a  motion  for  Burr's  arrest.  The  Judge  had  refused 
it,  but  when  a  grand  jury  was  impanelled,  Daveiss  found  that 
his  action  had  been  premature  and  moved  for  the  discharge  of 
the  jury.  A  second  time  Daveiss  renewed  his  motion  in  the 
District  court,  and  again  Burr  was  released.  But  the  grand 
jury  did  more.  They  signed  a  declaration  to  the  effect  that 
Burr  had  meditated  nothing  dangerous  to  the  peace  and  well- 
being  of  the  United  States.  So  strong  was  the  sympathy  of 
the  immediate  section  with  Burr,  that  the  action  of  the  District 
Attorney  was  regarded  as  a  piece  of  persecution  originating  with 
Jefferson. 

The  local  authorities  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky  were,  if  not  dis 
loyal  to  the  government,  at  least  negligent;  for,  notwithstand 
ing  the  President's  proclamation,  and  the  passage  of  the  neces 
sary  measures  by  the  legislatures  of  those  two  States,  Burr's 
forces  were  allowed  to  escape  in  boats  down  the  Ohio.  He 
himself  joined  them  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland,  and  by 
January.  1807,  the  combined  forces  were  as  far  down  the  Mis 
sissippi  as  Natchez.  In  spite  of  the  advantage  Burr  had  gained 
from  the  decision  of  the  court  in  Kentucky,  his  great  expedi 
tion  had  dwindled  to  the  pitiful  size  of  one  hundred  men,  car 
ried  in  thirteen  boats. 

Wilkinson  had  in  the  meantime  been  acting  with  a  decision 
and  vigor  to  which  he  had  hitherto  been  a  stranger.  He  had 
made  the  most  extensive  preparations  at  New  Orleans  to  resist 
Burr,  had  had  the  legislature  of  the  Territory  summoned  to  a 
special  session,  and  had  arrested  three  of  the  most  conspicuous 
of  Burr's  accomplices,  two  of  whom  were  sent  North. 

Burr  learned  of  these  preparations,  and,  landing  his  handful  of 
men  at  Natchez,  established  a  camp  there.  On  the  arrival  of 
the  President's  proclamation  he  surrendered  and  appeared  be- 


108  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

fore  the  Territorial  court,  but  the  court  decided  that  there  was 
no  evidence  that  Burr  had  committed  any  offense  within  the 
boundaries  over  which  it  had  jurisdiction.  Burr  fled  from  the 
Territory,  but  Wilkinson  sent  officers  after  him,  and  he  was 
arrested  in  Alabama  and  carried  thence  to  Richmond,  Virginia. 
On  March  3Oth,  he  came  before  Justice  Marshall,  who  was  presid 
ing  over  the  District  court,  for  examination  and  commitment. 
George  Hay,  the  Attorney  of  the  District,  made  charges  of  trea 
son  and  misdemeanor  against  him.  The  Judge  dismissed  the  for 
mer,  but  put  him  under  heavy  bonds  to  answer  the  second 
charge  at  the  next  session  of  the  court,  beginning  May  22nd.  Be 
fore  the  collapse  of  the  conspiracy  had  been  announced  in  the 
East,  the  wildest  rumors  as  to  Burr's  strength  were  afloat.  Jef 
ferson,  however,  affected  throughout  to  regard  the  conspiracy 
as  trivial.  In  his  annual  message,  in  December,  he  dismissed  the 
whole  matter  in  a  few  words.  HisjDrivate  correspondence,  also, 
was  of  the  calmest  tone.  "Burr's  enterprise,"  he  wrote  to 
Charles  Clay,  "is  the  most  extraordinary  since  the  days  of  Don 
Quixote.  It  is  so  extravagant  that  those  who  know  his  under 
standing  would  not  believe  it  if  the  proofs  admitted  doubt.  He 
has  meant  to  place  himself  on  the  throne  of  Montezuma,  and 
extend  his  empire  to  the  Alleghany,  seizing  on  New  Orleans  as 
the  instrument  of  compulsion  for  our  Western  States.  I  think 
his  undertaking  effectually  crippled  by  the  activity  of  the  Ohio." 
The  country,  however,  was  not  so  well  satisfied.  John  Ran 
dolph  moved  for  information  from  the  President,  and  on  Janu 
ary  22nd,  1807,  Jefferson  sent  to  Congress  a  special  message  nar 
rating  the  whole  conspiracy  from  the  September  preceding 
and  naming  Burr  as  its  central  figure.  This  was  the  date  when, 
he  claimed,  he  had  first  heard  of  Burr's  course.  It  cannot  be 
decided  whether  he  was  now  for  the  first  time  sincerely  con 
vinced  of  Burr's  treason  to  the  United  States,  or  merely  thought 
this  the  first  favorable  opportunity  to  make  the  matter  public. 
At  any  rate,  he  had  never  before  expressed  the  idea  that  the 
movement  was  "an  illegal  combination  of  private  individuals 
against  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  Union."  The  message,  so 
far  from  allaying  the  excitement  of  the  country,  served  only 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  109 

to  confirm  the  vague  alarm  which  prevailed,  for  the  news  of  the 
utter  weakness  of  Burr's  following  had  not  yet  reached  the  East. 
To  complete  the  unfortunate  turn  things  had  taken  for  Jeffer 
son,  the  Republican  majority  in  the  Senate  lost  its  head  and 
passed,  without  the  necessary  three  readings,  a  bill  for  the  sus 
pension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus.  The  bill  failed  in  the  House, 
but  it  .gave  the  opposition  abundant  ground  for  attack.  Fur 
thermore,  the  administration  sustained  a  rebuke  when  the  two 
accomplices  of  Burr  whom  Wilkinson  had  sent  North  were 
brought  before  Chief  Justice  Marshall  and  promptly  discharged 
from  custody  on  the  ground  of  the  insufficiency  of  the  evidence 
connecting  them  with  any  act  of  treason.  Jefferson  saw  that  his 
cue  was  to  treat  the  whole  conspiracy  as  a  trivial  thing.  This 
tone  was  assumed,  as  far  as  was  possible,  in  his  special  message 
relating  to  the  conspiracy,  but  it  dominated  his  correspondence 
with  Wilkinson.  The  latter  was  bent  upon  retrieving  himself 
for  his  dalliance  with  Burr  by  a  show  of  extraordinary  activity 
in  suppressing  Burr's  schemes.  Letters  to  the  President 
poured  in  from  Wilkinson,  magnifying  the  proportion  of  the 
enterprise  and  emphasizing  its  danger  to  the  country.  Jeffer 
son  could  not  afford  to  offend  him.  Still  less  could  he  afford 
to  let  such  representations  go  unheeded.  His  correspondence 
for  the  period  is  a  marvel  of  tact  and  skill. 

While  Jefferson  was  thus  engaged  in  checking  over-enthusi 
astic  friends,  and  silencing  opponents,  Burr  came  up  for  exam 
ination  before  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  then  holding  Circuit  court 
in  Richmond,  Virginia.  He  had  employed  an  array  of  counsel 
far  superior  in  ability  and  legal  learning  to  the  advocates  em 
ployed  by  the  government.  No  sympathy  was  expected  by  the 
administration  from  the  Judge  who  was  to  preside.  On  April 
ist,  Judge  Marshall  delivered  an  opinion,  in  which  he  declined 
to  commit  Burr  for  treason  on  the  evidence  of  Eaton  and  Wil 
kinson,  and  he  went  out  of  his  way  to  call  to  task  the  Executive 
for  neglect  of  duty  in  providing  proof  of  treason.  He  committed 
Burr  for  misdemeanor  merely,  and  admitted  him  to  bonds  for 
appearance  at  the  next  session  of  court. 

The  lethargy  of  Jefferson  during  the  actual  progress  of  Burr's 


110  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

schemes  must  always  remain  inexplicable.  But  henceforth  per 
sonal  reasons  urged  him  to  try  to  bring  Burr  to  conviction.  In 
the  shape  the  case  had  now  assumed  he  saw  an  attack,  by  Fed 
eralist  influences,  upon  the  power  of  the  Executive  to  punish 
treason.  Marshall's  strictures  upon  his  course  bit  the  deeper 
because  at  heart  he  knew  them  to  be  largely  just.  He  wrote 
to  Bowdoin,  United  States  Minister  to  Spain:  "Hitherto  we 
have  believed  our  law  to  be  that  suspicion  on  probable  grounds 
was  sufficient  cause  to  commit  a  person  for  trial,  allowing  time 
to  collect  witnesses  till  the  trial,  but  the  judges  here  have  decided 
that  conclusive  evidence  of  guilt  must  be  ready  in  the  moment 
of  arrest,  or  they  will  discharge  the  malefactor.  If  this  is  still 
insisted  on,  Burr  will  be  discharged,  because  his  crimes  having 
been  sown  from  Maine  through  the  whole  line  of  the  western 
States  to  New  Orleans,  we  cannot  bring  the  witnesses  here  under 
four  months.  The  fact  is  that  the  Federalists  make  Burr's  course 
their  own,  and  exert  their  whole  influence  to  shield  him  from 
punishment.  And  it  is  unfortunate  that  Federalism  is  still  pre 
dominant  in  our  judiciary  department,  which  is  consequently 
in  opposition  to  the  Legislative  and  Executive  branches  and  is 
able  to  baffle  their  measures  often." 

In  a  letter  to  his  political  confidant,  W.  B.  Giles,  his  ani 
mosity  to  Marshall  mounted  still  higher:  "That  there  should  be 
anxiety  and  doubt  in  the  public  mind,  in  the  present  defective 
state  of  the  proof,  is  not  wonderful;  and  this  has  been  sedulously 
encouraged  by  the  tricks  of  the  Judges  to  force  trials  before  it 
is  possible  to  collect  the  evidence.  *  *  *  The  presiding 
Judge  meant  only  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  his  audience.  But 
all  the  principles  of  law  are  to  be  perverted  which  would  bear 
on  the  favorite  offenders  who  endeavor  to  overrun  this  odious 
Republic.  *  *  *"  If  there  had  ever  been  an  instance  in  this 
or  the  preceding  administration  of  Federal  Judges  so  applying 
principles  of  law  as  to  condemn  a  Federal  or  acquit  a  Repub 
lican  offender,  I  should  have  judged  them  in  the  present  case 
with  more  charity." 

His  feeling  toward  Burr  is  thus  expressed:  "Against  Burr, 
personally,  I  never  had  one  hostile  sentiment.  I  never,  indeed, 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  III 

thought  him  an  honest,  frank-dealing  man,  but  considered  him 
as  a  crooked  gun,  or  other  perverted  machine  whose  aim  or 
stroke  you  could  never  be  sure  of.  Still,  while  he  possessed 
the  confidence  of  the  nation,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  respect  in 
him  their  confidence,  and  to  treat  him  as  if  he  deserved  it." 

The  hearing  on  the  indictment  of  Burr  began  on  the  date  set. 
Richmond  was  crowded  with  men  attracted  thither  by  a  variety 
of  motives.  Most  of  them  made  no  concealment  of  sympathy 
with  Burr,  and  every  social  and  class  influence  was  exerted  in 
his  favor.  The  course  of  the  Chief  Justice  alarmed  all  Repub 
licans.  Still  refusing  to  commit  Burr  for  treason,  he  granted 
the  motion  of  Burr's  counsel,  and  issued  a  subpoena  calling  for 
the  presence  of  the  President  as  a  witness  in  the  case.  Jeffer 
son  had  hitherto  borne  the  insults  and  sneers  of  Luther  Mar 
tin,  Burr's  leading  counsel,  with  something  like  patience,  but 
this  ruling  of  Marshall  stirred  him  to  anger.  He  defied  the  sum 
mons  of  the  court,  basing  his  refusal  to  obey  it  upon  the  funda 
mental  independence  of  the  three  departments  of  government. 
In  the  first  flush  of  his  resentment  he  wished  to  have  Luther 
Martin  committed  as  particeps  criniinis  with  Burr.  Nothing, 
however,  was  done  in  this  direction. 

A  new  source  of  irritation  now  arose.  Gen.  Wilkinson  came 
on  from  the  .West  to  take  the  stand  as  the  chief  witness  for  the 
prosecution.  The  world  knew  that  Wilkinson  had  long  been 
engaged  with  Burr,  had  been  the  recipient  of  his  confidence, 
and  had  basely  used  this  intimacy  to  ingratiate  himself  with 
the  government.  He  was  the  object  of  universal  loathing  at 
Richmond.  Yet  Jefferson  was  forced  to  stand  sponsor  for  him. 
On  the  witness  stand  Wilkinson  was  worse  than  useless  to  Jef 
ferson.  John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  was  foreman  of  the  grand 
jury.  Bitterly  as  he  hated  Jefferson,  as  between  Jefferson  and 
Burr  he  was  for  aiding  the  former;  but  when  Jefferson  stooped 
to  rely  on  Wilkinson,  Randolph's  aid  was  at  an  end.  With 
Burr's  counsel  he  was  for  indicting  Wilkinson  along  with  Burr, 
but  his  effort  to  do  this  failed.  Burr  alone  was  indicted  on  a 
charge  of  treason,  and  his  trial  was  set  for  August  3rd.  Thus  far 


112  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

the  President's  successes  had  more  than  counterbalanced  the 
defeats  he  had  met. 

When  the  third  stage  of  this  remarkable  trial  began,  the  gov 
ernment  put  numerous  witnesses  on  the  stand.  Nothing,  how 
ever,  proved  the  overt  treason  charged  in  the  indictment.  The 
case  went  to  the  jury,  and,  after  a  day's  deliberation,  Burr  was 
pronounced  not  guilty  of  the  charge  of  treason. 

The  charge  of  high  misdemeanor  yet  remained.  Burr  gave 
new  bail;  a  new  jury  was  sworn;  and  the  new  indictment  was 
read  on  September  9th.  The  question  of  jurisdiction  was  now 
raised.  By  the  consent  of  both  sides,  Burr  and  one  of  his  col 
leagues,  Blennerhassett,  were  committed  for  preparing  an  ex 
pedition  against  a  foreign  nation  with  whom  the  United  States 
were  at  peace,  and  were  bound  over  to  appear  before  the  Cir 
cuit  court  of  the  United  States  to  be  held  at  Chillicothe,  Ohio, 
in  January,  1808.  Neither  appeared.  Their  bonds  were  for 
feited  and  they  fled  abroad. 

The  government  welcomed  such  a  solution  of  the  matter. 
Jefferson  had  no  cause  for  self-congratulations  on  any  part 
of  the  whole  Burr  episode.  During  its  latter  stages  he  had 
raised  questions  as  to  the  relative  power  of  the  departments 
of  government  impossible  of  solution.  The  chasm  between  the 
Executive  and  Judicial*  branches  was  widened;  and  this  was 
the  only  permanent  result  of  the  conspiracy  and  trial  of  Burr. 

While  Jefferson  was  thus  absorbed  in  domestic  events,  there 
was  no  improvement  in  our  relations  with  England.  A  year  had 
passed  and  the  outrage  perpetrated  off  Sandy  Hook  was  not 
once  explained  or  apologized  for.  Monroe  and  Pinckney  had 
negotiated  a  treaty,  and  the  State  Department  at  Washington 
had  received  it  in  March,  1807.  Its  provisions  were  extremely 
unsatisfactory  and  the  tone  of  England  was  haughty.  To  have 
presented  it  to  Congress  would  have  meant  war.  Jefferson, 
therefore,  in  his  sincere  desire  to  preserve  peace,  did  not  lay  it 
before  that  body,  but  allowed  it  to  disperse  without  a  word 

*See  Judiciary,  Federal,  page  273.    Also  Supreme  Court,  page  401. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  113 

on  the  subject.  Jefferson  wrote  Monroe  that  the  treaty  could 
not  be  ratified;  but  urged  him  to  delay  negotiations  to  gain 
time — "the  most  precious  of  all  things  to  us." 

In  the  midst  of  the  tension  (for  rumors  of  the  nature  of  the 
treaty  had  spread  through  the  country)  the  outrage  of  the 
previous  year  was  repeated,  with  even  more  exasperating  and 
humiliating  particulars,  when  in  June,  1807,  the  Chesapeake 
was  fired  into  by  the  Leopard,  a  British  man-of-war,  outside  the 
Capes  at  Norfolk.  The  Chesapeake,  though  a  frigate  intended 
for  fighting,  was  totally  unprepared  for  action.  Three  of  her 
crew  were  killed  and  eighteen  wounded.  After  having  been 
severely  crippled  she  surrendered  and  was  searched.  The  British 
commander  refused  to  receive  her  as  a  prize,  and  with  difficulty 
she  made  her  way  back  to  Hampton  Roads. 

As  before,  Jefferson  issued  a  proclamation  calling  for  the  de 
parture  from  American  waters  of  all  armed  vessels  belonging  to 
Great  Britain,  and,  in  the  event  of  their  refusal  to  depart,  forbid 
ding  them  to  be  supplied  with  the  necessaries  of  life.  A  special 
messenger  was  sent  to  England  to  demand  satisfaction.  But 
the  futility  of  these  two  measures  was  everywhere  recognized. 
Republicans  as  well  as  Federalists  called  upon  the  President 
for  action — for  action  that  should  show  a  spirit  worthy  of  respect 
from  a  foreign  nation.  Congress  was  called  to  meet  in  special 
session  in  October,  when  the  President  hoped  to  be  able  to 
announce  from  England  a  more  conciliatory  policy.  But  the 
hope  was  vain.  Monroe's  career  in  England  had  been  a  suc 
cession  of  failures,  and  he  had  returned  to  America  in  no 
cordial  mood  towards  Jefferson,  the  author  of  the  innumerable 
humiliations  which  he  had  been  made  to  suffer.  The  con 
temptuous  attitude  of  England  culminated  in  November,  1807, 
when  the  King  approved  new  orders  in  Council  for  the  suppres 
sion  of  American  interests  on  the  sea.  Napoleon's  successes 
on  land  had  broken  down  all  semblance  of  neutrality  among 
the  powers  of  Europe.  He  forced  every  country  to  take  the 
side  either  of  France  or  of  England.  England  had  only  her 
naval  power  with  which  to  oppose  this  coercion.  According 
to  the  new  orders,  American  shipping  was  held  to  be  no  longer 


114  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

neutral,  for  it  had  not  observed  impartiality  toward  belliger 
ents,  and  had  obeyed  Napoleon's  paper  blockades  established 
by  the  Berlin  Decree  a  year  before. 

The  new  British  orders  threw  the  country  into  an  uproar. 
Jefferson  had  called  Congress  to  meet  in  special  session,  but 
he  had  no  solution  to  propose  for  the  troubles  which  beset  the 
country.  He  dwelt  on  the  necessity  of  preparations  for  coast 
defense,  but  was  feeble  and  halting  in  his  recommendations  for 
a  land  force.  His  most  ardent  admirers  could  not  but  feel  the 
inadequacy  of  every  measure  suggested. 

Nothing  was  done  for  two  months  after  the  assembling  of 
Congress,  save  to  wait  for  some  possible  news  from  England 
of  a  favorable  character.  All  hopes  of  an  amicable  adjustment 
of  the  trouble  were  swept  away  when,  in  December,  England's 
Orders  in  Council  reached  the  President.  It  was  now  thought 
that  Jefferson  must  take  a  stand.  He  must  give  up  his  lifelong 
dream  of  peace  and  accept  war.  But  neither  Europe  nor  his  own 
country  knew  the  extraordinary  tenacity  with  which  Jefferson 
adhered  to  an  idea.  He  now  adopted  the  most  extraordinary 
course  ever  devised  to  avoid  war.  With  the  aid  of  Madison  he 
formulated  a  brief  message  to  Congress  recommending  to  it 
the  advantages  which  might  be  expected  from  an  inhibition  of 
the  departure  of  our  vessels  from  the  ports  of  the  United  States. 
Despite  the  vehement  remonstrance  of  Gallatin,  the  one  adviser 
for  whose  opinion  he  had  profound  respect,  he  sent  the  message 
with  a  packet  of  documents  to  both  Houses.  The  Senate  at 
once  went  into*  secret  session.  Now  ensued  a  process  of 
legislation  as  extraordinary  as  was  the  purpose  underlying  it. 
In  a  few  minutes  a  bill  was  drawn  up  embodying  the  Presi 
dent's  wishes.  The  rule  of  three  separate  readings  on  three 
separate  days  was  suspended.  No  debate  was  allowed.  Within 
four  hours  a  bill  had  been  passed  which  laid  an  embargo  for 
an  indefinite  period  on  all  shipping  within  the  ports  of  the 
United  States.  But  the  House  was  less  subservient  than 
the  Senate.  Though  it  went  immediately  into  secret  session,  the 
passage  of  the  bill  was  delayed  three  days.  John  Randolph,  of 
Roanoke,  leading  the  Quids  and  Federalists,  eagerly  welcomed 


OF   THOMAS  JEFFERSON  115 

the  opportunity  to  embarrass  and  alarm  the  President.  As  fast 
as  one  modification  of  the  Senate  Bill  was  voted  down,  he  pre 
sented  another.  No  limitation  was  allowed  to  the  time  for 
which  the  embargo  was  to  prevail,  nor  was  any  class  of  vessels, 
except  at  the  discretion  of  the  President,  to  be  exempted.  Five 
days  after  the  Orders  in  Council  reached  Jefferson,  he  signed  the 
act  for  an  absolute  embargo  and  thus  became  master  of  the 
commerce  of  his  country — a  power  to  which  neither  George  III 
nor  Napoleon  had  ever  approached.  The  reason  assigned  for 
the  measure  was  that  a  lack  of  trade  with  the  United  States 
would  bring  England  to  her  knees. 

The  effects  of  the  Embargo  Act  were  almost  immediately  felt,  , 
and  they  were  felt  first  by  that  section  of  country  always  most 
inimical  to  Republicanism — that  is,  by  New  England  and  the 
parts  of  New  York  adjacent  to  Canada,  where  the  shipping  I 
trade  was  the  chief  source  of  revenue.  To  suspend  this  trade  I 
even  for  a  day  would  produce  results  of  inconvenience  in  thous 
ands  of  homes.  To  suspend  it  indefinitely  meant  starvation 
for  the  laboring  classes  and  ruin  for  the  wealthy  and  the  mod 
erately  well-to-do.  Smuggling  was  inevitable.  At  first,  it  was 
engaged  in  by  the  bold  and  lawless.  As  the  pinch  of  necessity 
became  greater,  it  was  taken  up  by  citizens  usually  law  abiding. 
To  enforce  the  law  in  great  seaports  and  centers  of  population 
was  not  difficult,  but  to  enforce  it  along  the  Canadian  border 
was  impossible.  Jefferson  issued  a  proclamation  directed 
against  the  people  around  Lake  Champlain  as  conspirators  and 
insurgents.  The  proclamation  was  not  heeded,  and  acts  of 
violence  became  frequent  along  the  whole  border.  More  serious 
for  the  President  than  these  insurrections  was  the  steady  opposi-. 
tion  developed  in  the  thickly  settled  sections  of  New  England, 
where  town  after  town  passed  resolutions  denouncing  the  act 
and  even  threatening  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  The  election 
in  many  of  those  States  had  in  the  spring  gone  overwhelmingly 
Anti-Republican.  When  Congress  met  in  November,  1808, 
the  Federalists  felt  bold  enough  to  move  the  repeal  of  the  Em 
bargo  Act.  The  administration  had  nothing  to  show  as  its  re 
sults  but  suffering  at  home  and  failure  abroad.  The  President 


Il6  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

feared  to  stake  his  prestige  on  forcing  the  Republican  votes 
of  the  House  into  a  defense  of  the  Act.  As  early  as  June,  1808, 
he  had  written  to  Dr.  Leib:  "They  [the  extreme  Federalists] 
are  endeavoring  to  convince  England  that  we  suffer  more  by 
the  embargo  than  they  do,  and  that,  if  they  will  hold  out  a 
while,  we  must  abandon  it.  It  is  true,  the  time  will  come  when 
we  must  abandon  it.  But  if  this  is  before  the  repeal  of  the 
Orders  of  Council,  we  must  abandon  it  only  for  a  state  of  war. 
The  day  is  not  distant  when  that  will  be  preferable  to  a  longer 
continuance  of  the  embargo.  But  we  can  never  remove  that, 
and  let  our  vessels  go  out  and  be  taken  under  these  orders  with 
out  making  reprisals."  He  left  Congress  at  liberty  to  do  what 
it  would.  After  three  and  a  half  months  of  debate,  modifications 
so  extensive  were  passed  as  to  amount  to  a  virtual  repeal  of 
the  Embargo  Act.  Most  of  these  modifications  were  to  take 
effect  on  March  i5th,  1809.  Jefferson  signed  the  bill  embracing 
them  three  days  before  going  out  of  office.  He  protested  to  the 
last  that  the  Embargo,  if  it  had  been  steadfastly  adhered  to, 
would  have  accomplished  its  purpose,  and  American  shipping 
would  have  been  restored  to  its  rights  without  war. 

Jefferson's  embarrassment  over  the  Embargo  was  accom 
panied  by  annoyance  at  jealousies  within  his  party.  He  was  the 
undisputed  leader,  a  title  which  meant  far  more  than  being 
merely  an  official  head.  He  had  long  since  made  his  choice  of 
a  successor.  This  was  well  understood;  and  in  January,  1808, 
his  partisans  in  the  Virginia  Legislature  held  a  caucus  and 
named  Madison  as  their  choice  for  the  next  President.  Fol 
lowing  this  example,  a  Congressional  caucus  was  held,  and  again 
Madison  was  named;  but  many  Republican  Senators  and  Repre 
sentatives  held  aloof.  Madison,  in  the  minds  of  these  latter, 
was  inseparably  associated  with  Hamilton  as  an  author  of  the 
Federalist;  and  this  idea  was  encouraged  by  Randolph  and 
his  immediate  followers,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  push 
ing  Monroe  as  their  opposition  candidate.  George  Clinton, 
though  named  by  Madison's  supporters  as  the  candidate  for 
Vice-President,  had  also  become  sullen  at  Madison's  elevation 
over  him.  In  the  midst  of  these  unseemly  but  inevitable  quar- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  117 

rels  within  the  party,  Jefferson  strove  for  harmony,  but  would 
not  give  up  his  favorite.  He  wrote  to  Monroe  letters  even  more 
soothing  than  those  he  had  dispatched  while  the  latter  was 
abroad.  He  went  with  him  through  the  entire  history  of  his 
late  mission,  denying  any  intention  to  slight  or  ignore  him,  and 
pleading  for  the  old  intimacy  between  him  and  Madison.  Mon 
roe,  besides  fearing  to  break  openly  from  Jefferson,  even  though 
the  latter  was  soon  to  be  a  private  citizen,  cherished  a  deep 
reverence  for  him,  and  this  asserted  itself  after  a  brief  period 
of  chagrin.  Neither  John  Randolph  nor  George  Clinton  was 
the  man  to  solidify  the  Federalist  opposition  to  the  Embargo 
and  to  win  its  vote.  The  Federalists  on  their  side  had  to  give 
up  hope  of  a  coalition,  and  in  the  summer  of  1808,  they  put 
forth  their  old  candidates,  Pinckney  and  King.  Madison  was 
favored  by  good  fortune  throughout.  The  legislatures  were 
chosen  before  the  Embargo  Act  reached  its  highest  pitch  of  un 
popularity,  and  Madison  received  the  electoral  votes  of  several 
States  that  returned  Federal  Congressmen  in  the  autumn. 
Notwithstanding  this  fact,  the  vote  for  Madison  and  Clinton  fell 
far  below  that  cast  for  Jefferson  and  Clinton  four  years  before. 
Jefferson  had  received  162  electoral  votes;  Madison  now  re 
ceived  only  122.  The  Federalists  had  received  14  in  1804:  in 
1808  they  received  47. 

JEFFERSON'S  LAST  YEARS. 

On  March  4th,  1809,  Thomas  Jefferson  transferred  the  execu 
tive  power  to  James  Madison.  He  had  eight  years  before 
indulged  in  many  professions  of  reluctance  to  undertake  the 
duties  of  President.  The  sincerity  of  these  professions  may  be 
a  matter  of  doubt,  but  no  doubt  can  arise  concerning  the  ex 
pressions  of  relief  which  now  escaped  him.  Had  he  retired  four 
years  earlier  they  would  have  had  no  existence;  but  his  second 
administration  had  brought  with  it  much  that  was  harassing. 
He  was  disappointed  at  the  miscarriage  of  his  favorite  theory, 
the  necessity  of  preserving  peace  at  \vhatsoever  cost.  The 
Embargo  Act  had  forced  the  country  into  measures  which  had 


Il8  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

threatened  its  dissolution  and  had  brought  great  financial  dis 
tress  to  a  certain  section,  with  a  corresponding  depression  in  all. 
His  party  had  been  compelled  virtually  to  acknowledge  its 
failure  by  abandoning  it.  True,  he  had  tasted  of  supreme 
power,  but  he  had  also  felt,  as  never  before,  its  accompanying 
penalties.  His  appointments  to  office  had  won  him  enemies 
as  well  as  friends.  Always  keenly  sensitive  to  slander  and  even 
to  criticism,  he  had  for  two  years  been  sorely  wounded.  With- 
out  these  reasons,  indeed,  he  would  willingly  have  retired. 
Rotation  in  office  had  always  been  one  of  the  cardinal  points 
in  his  political  creed;  and  he  had  never  ceased  to  commend 
Washington's  example.  He  had  early  in  his  first  term  an 
nounced  his  intention  of  following  it.  Now  that  personal  feel 
ings  were  thus  thrown  into  the  scale,  he  looked  toward 
retirement  with  more  than  willingness.  For  many  months 
before,  his  letters  are  full  of  longing  for  the  day  of  relief.  This 
culminates  in  a  letter  written  from  Washington  to  M.  Dupont 
de  Nemours  two  days  before  Madison  was  installed.  "Within 
a  few  days  I  retire  to  my  family,  my  books  and  farms;  and 
having  gained  the  harbor  myself,  I  shall  look  on  my  friends 
still  buffeting  the  storm,  with  anxiety  indeed,  but  not  with  envy. 
Never  did  a  prisoner,  released  from  his  chains,  feel  such  relief 
as  I  shall  on  shaking  off  the  shackles  of  power.  Nature  in 
tended  me  for  the  tranquil  pursuits  of  science,  by  rendering 
them  my  supreme  delight.  But  the  enormities  of  the  times  in 
which  I  have  lived  have  forced  me  to  take  a  part  in  resisting 
them,  and  to  commit  myself  on  the  boisterous  ocean  of  political 
passions.  I  thank  God  for  the  opportunity  of  retiring  from 
them  without  censure,  and  carrying  with  me  the  most  consoling 
proofs  of  public  approbation." 

Jefferson  reached  Monticello  on  March  I5th.  The  usual  dis 
comforts  of  the  journey  inseparable  from  the  season  were 
increased  by  a  snow  storm  through  which  he  traveled  eight 
hours,  most  of  the  time  on  horseback.  He  experienced  no 
disastrous  results,  and  wrote  the  President  that  from  this  he 
1  'had  more  confidence  in  his  vis  vitae  than  he  had  before  enter 
tained."  His  neighbors  of  Albemarle  County  had  wished  to 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  119 

give  him  a  public  reception,  but  this  he  had  evaded,  hoping 
instead,  as  he  wrote,  "to  have  opportunities  of  taking  them 
individually  by  the  hand  at  our  court  house  and  other  public 
places,  and  of  exchanging  assurances  of  mutual  esteem."  His 
domestic  circle  was  made  up  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Randolph, 
and  her  husband  and  children,  and  Jefferson  again  found  in  their 
society  the  felicities  of  home  life  of  which  he  had  long  been 
deprived  and  in  which  his  affectionate  nature  found  its  highest 
delight. 

The  course  of  his  life  now  settled  into  much  the  same  channels 
as  those  in  which  it  had  flowed  twelve  years  before.  From  this 
time  on,  his  correspondence  acquires  a  value  which  it  did  not 
possess  before,  important  as  it  has  been  seen  to  be  in  every 
period  of  his  life.  Nothing  so  clearly  shows  the  wide  range 
and  versatility  of  his  mind;  and  it  is  now  the  sole  record  of  his 
pursuits.  At  first  he  was  disinclined  to  devote  himself  to  the 
labor  of  letter  writing.  He  was,  however,  drawn  irresistibly 
into  it.  Addresses  and  congratulations  on  his  public  service 
poured  in  from  associations  and  individuals,  and  to  answering 
these  he  brought  the  same  interest  as  he  had  to  those  of  eight 
years  before.  Pamphlets  on  almost  every  conceivable  subject 
were  continually  reaching  him,  and  to  the  author  of  each  he 
felt  that  he  owed  an  appropriate  and  courteous  reply.  His 
interest  in  literary  and  scientific  matters  seemed  to  take  on  new 
life;  but  the  very  leisure  which  enabled  him  to  cultivate  them 
brought  its  own  cessation.  His  scientific  tastes  had  made  him 
known  to  every  learned  body  in  Europe  and  America,  and 
he  was  a  member  of  most  of  them.  He  was  especially  en 
thusiastic  for  the  success  of  the  American  Philosophic  Society, 
of  which  he  was  twice  elected  President  during  his  retirement. 

By  far  the  best  expression  of  the  routine  of  his  life  at  this 
time  is  given  by  Jefferson  himself  in  a  letter  to  General  Kos- 
ciusko,  written  in  February,  1810.  It  repeats,  in  peculiar 
fashion,  much  of  the  enthusiastic  delight  in  his  new  surround 
ings  which  was  to  be  seen  in  the  letters  written  soon  after  his 
retirement  from  Washington's  Cabinet.  "I  am  retired  to  Mon- 
ticello,  where,  in  the  bosom  of  my  family  and  surrounded  by 


120  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

my  books,  I  enjoy  a  repose  to  which  I  have  been  long  a  stranger. 
My  mornings  are  devoted  to>  correspondence.  From  breakfast 
to  dinner,  I  am  in  my  shops,  my  garden,  or  on  horseback  among 
my  farms;  from  dinner  to  dark,  I  give  to  society  and  recreation 
with  my  neighbors  and  friends;  and  from  candle  light  to  early 
bedtime,  I  read.  My  health  is  perfect;  and  my  strength  con 
siderably  re-enforced  by  the  activity  of  the  course  I  pursue. 
Perhaps  it  is  as  great  as  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  near  sixty-seven 
years  of  age.  I  talk  of  plows  and  harrows,  of  seeding  and  har 
vesting,  with  my  neighbors,  and  of  politics,  too,  if  they  choose, 
with  as  little  reserve  as  the  rest  of  my  fellow  citizens,  and  feel 
at  length  the  blessing  of  being  free  to  say  and  do  what  I  please, 
without  being  responsible  for  it  to  any  mortal.  A  part  of  my 
occupation,  and  by  no  means  the  least  pleasing,  is  the  direction 
of  the  studies  of  such  young  men  as  ask  it.  They  place  them 
selves  in  the  neighboring  village  and  have  the  use  of  my  library 
and  counsel  and  make  a.  part  of  my  society.  In  advising  the 
course  of  their  reading,  I  endeavor  to  keep  their  attention  fixed 
on  the  main  objects  of  all  science,  the  freedom  and  happiness 
of  man." 

In  contrast  with  this  bright  picture,  the  letter  concludes  with 
the  first  intimation  given  by  Jefferson  that  his  financial  affairs 
were  not  in  such  a  state  as  he  could  wish.  "Instead  of  the 
unalloyed  happiness  of  retiring  unembarrassed  and  independent 
to  the  enjoyment  of  my  estate,  which  is  ample  for  my  limited 
views,  I  have  to  pass  such  a  length  of  time  in  a  thraldom  of 
mind  never  before  known  to  me.  Except  for  this,  my  happi 
ness  would  have  been  perfect." 

About  this  time  Jefferson  allowed  himself  to  fall  into  appre 
hensions  as  to  his  health  similar  to  those  which  he  had  enter 
tained  on  his  retirement  from  Washington's  Cabinet.  His 
natural  brightness  of  disposition,  however,  prevented  him  from 
being  plunged  into  anything  like  a  valetudinarian  gloom.  He 
rather  regarded  the  loss  of  health  as  something  which  was  to 
come  in  the  course  of  nature  and  which  must  be  bravely  faced. 
This  acquiescent  frame  of  mind  is  shown  in  a  letter  written  to 
Dr.  Rush  in  August,  1811.  "I  write  to  you  from  a  place  ninety 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  121 

miles  from  Monticello,  near  the  New  London  of  this  State, 
which  I  visit  three  or  four  times  a  year,  and  stay  from  a  fort 
night  to  a  month  at  a  time.  I  have  fixed  myself  comfortably, 
keep  some  books  here,  bring  others  occasionally,  am  in  the 
solitude  of  a  hermit  and  quite  at  leisure  to  attend  to  my  absent 
friends.  *  *  *  Having  to  conduct  my  grandson  through 
his  course  of  mathematics,  I  have  resumed  that  study  with  great 
avidity.  It  was  ever  my  favorite  one.  *  *  *  I  have  for 
gotten  much  and  recover  it  with  more  difficulty  than  when  in 
vigor  of  my  mind  I  originally  acquired  it.  It  is  wonderful  to 
me  that  old  men  should  not  be  sensible  that  their  minds  keep 
pace  with  their  bodies  in  the  progress  of  decay.  *  *  *  I 
have  had  a  long  attack  of  rheumatism  without  fever  and  with 
out  pain,  while  I  keep  myself  still.  *  *  *  I  take  moderate 
rides  without  much  fatigue;  but  my  journey  to  this  place  in  a 
hard-going  gig  gave  me  great  suffering,  which  I  expect  will 
be  renewed  on  my  return  as  soon  as  I  am  able.  The  loss  of 
the  power  of  taking  exercise  would  be  a  sore  affliction  to  me. 
It  has  been  the  delight  of  my  retirement  to  be  in  constant  bodily 
activity,  looking  after  my  affairs.  It  was  never  damped,  as  the 
pleasures  of  reading  are,  by  the  question  cui  bonof  for  what 
object?  *  *  *  The  sedentary  character  of  my  public  occu 
pations  sapped  a  constitution  naturally  sound  and  vigorous,  and 
draws  it  to  an  earlier  close.  But  it  will  still  last  quite  as  long  as 
I  wish  it.  There  is  a  fullness  of  time  when  men  should  go,  and 
not  occupy  too  long  the  ground  to  which  others  have  the  right 
to  advance." 

The  beginning  of  1812  was  rendered  memorable  in  Jefferson's 
life  by  his  reconciliation  writh  John  Adams.  This  was  brought 
about  by  their  common  friend,  Dr.  Rush,  with  whom  Jefferson 
had  several  times  discussed  Adams'  estrangement  from  him. 
Since  Mrs.  Adams'  letter  to  Jefferson  on  the  death  of  his  daugh 
ter,  in  1804,  no  communication  had  passed  between  the  families. 
The  correspondence  of  the  two  old  men  now  became  volumi 
nous,  and  was  henceforth  uninterrupted.  Adams'  breadth  of 
interest  was  narrower  than  Jefferson's,  and  he  enjoyed  com 
parative  immunity  from  a  burdensome  correspondence.  He 


122  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

therefore  had  more  leisure  to  devote  to  reading,  and  was  never 
weary  of  parading  this  in  his  letters.  The  favorite  topic  of  the 
old  men  was  the  tenets  of  the  Christian  belief  as  viewed  from  a 
historical  and  rationalistic  standpoint.  The  correspondence 
seems  to  have  delighted  Jefferson.  Even  the  first  of  his  letters 
to  Adams  shows  a  buoyancy  to  which  he  had  for  some  months 
been  a  stranger.  "I  think  little  of  them  (politics),  and  say  less. 
I  have  given  up  newspapers,  in  exchange  for  Tacitus  and 
Thucydides,  for  Newton  and  Euclid,  and  I  find  myself  much  the 
happier.  Sometimes  indeed  I  look  back  to  former  occurrences 
and  remembrances  of  our  old  friends  and  fellow  laborers,  who 
have  fallen  before  us.  Of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  I  see  now  living  not  more  than  half  a  dozen  on 
your  side  the  Potomac,  and  on  this  side  myself  only.  You 
and  I  have  been  wonderfully  spared,  myself  with  remarkable 
health  and  considerable  activity  of  body  and  mind.  I  am  on 
horseback  three  or  four  hours  every  day,  visit  three  or  four 
times  a  year  a  possession  I  have  ninety  miles  distant,  perform 
ing  the  winter  journey  on  horseback.  I  walk  little,  however, 
a  single  mile  being  too  much  for  me,  and  I  live  in  the  midst  of 
my  grandchildren,  one  of  whom  has  lately  promoted  me  to  be 
a  great-grandfather.'* 

War  with  England  was  declared  in  June  of  this  year.  Jeffer 
son  in  his  correspondence  showed  himself  thoroughly  in  accord 
with  the  administration.  As  disturbing  an  element  as  was  war 
in  his  theories,  he  felt  that  the  present  one  was  justifiable — a 
feeling  which  was  strengthened  by  the  recollection  of  British 
wantonness  toward  American  shipping  during  his  own  second 
administration.  He  outlined  what  seemed  to  him  the  most 
advantageous  plan  of  campaign  for  the  American  forces.  He 
wrote  to  Colonel  Duane:  "I  see  as  you  do  the  difficulties  and 
defects  we  have  to  encounter  in  war,  and  should  expect  disasters 
if  we  had  an  enemy  on  land  capable  of  inflicting  them.  *  *  * 
The  acquisition  of  Canada  this  year,  as  far  as  the  neighborhood 
of  Quebec,  will  be  a  mere  matter  of  marching,  and  will  give  us 
experience  for  the  attack  of  Halifax  the  next,  and  the  final 
expulsion  of  England  from  the  American  continent.  Halifax 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  123 

once  taken,  every  cock-boat  of  hers  must  return  to  England 
for  repairs.  Their  fleet  will  annihilate  our  public  force  on  the 
water,  but  our  privateers  will  eat  out  the  vitals  of  their  com 
merce.  Perhaps  they  will  burn  New  York  or  Boston.  If  they 
do,"  he  continued,  evidently  believing  that  war  was  a  horror 
which  must  be  ended  even  by  the  most  extreme  measures,  "we 
must  burn  the  city  of  London,  not  by  expensive  fleets  or  Con- 
greve  rockets,  but  by  employing  an  hundred  or  two  Jack-the- 
painters,  whom  nakedness,  famine,  desperation  and  hardened 
vice  will  abundantly  furnish  among  themselves." 

With  the  continuation  of  the  war,  the  blockade  cut  off  the 
importation  of  goods  into  the  country,  and  caused  a  rapid  rise 
in  prices  of  all  manufactured  articles.  In  addition  to  this  the 
agricultural  sections  suffered  from  the  non-exportation  of  their 
products.  In  the  more  populous  sections  of  the  country  ex 
tensive  manufactories  sprang  up;  but  in  Jefferson's  section 
recourse  was  had  to  household  manufacture.  Jefferson  caught 
the  lesson  that  a  new  era  had  been  ushered  in,  and  admitted  that 
a  change  had  been  wrought  in  some  of  his  economic  theories. 
It  is  interesting  to  see  the  effects  of  the  war  upon  his  own 
domestic  affairs.  "I  had  no  idea,"  he  wrote  in  January,  1813, 
"that  manufactures  had  made  such  progress  in  the  maritime 
States,  and  particularly  of  the  number  of  carding  and  spinning 
machines  dispersed  through  the  whole  country.  We  are  but 
beginning  here  to  have  them  in  our  private  families.  Small 
spinning  jinnies  of  from  half  a  dozen  to  twenty  spindles  will 
soon,  however,  make  their  way  into  the  humblest  cottages  as 
well  as  into  the  richest  houses,  and  nothing  is  more  certain  than 
that  the  coarse  and  middling  clothing  for  our  families  will  for 
ever  hereafter  continue  to  be  made  within  ourselves.  I  have 
hitherto,  myself,  depended  on  foreign  manufactures,  but  I  have 
now  thirty-five  spindles  going,  a  hand  carding-machine,  and 
looms  for  flying  shuttles  for  the  supply  of  my  own  farms,  which 
will  never  be  relinquished  in  my  time.  The  continuance  of  war 
will  fix  the  habit  generally,  and  out  of  the  evils  of  impressment 
and  of  the  Orders  in  Council,  a  great  blessing  for  us  will  grow. 
I  have  not  formerly  been  an  advocate  of  great  manufactories. 


124  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

I  doubted  whether  our  labor,  employed  in  agriculture,  and  aided 
by  the  spontaneous  energies  of  the  earth  would  not  procure  us 
more  than  we  could  make  ourselves  of  other  necessaries.  But 
other  considerations  entering  into  the  question  have  settled  my 
doubts." 

With  the  beginning  of  1814,  Jefferson  first  broached  the  sub 
ject  which  for  many  years  had  lain  nearest  his  heart.  To  Dr. 
Thomas  Cooper,  then  serving  as  Professor  of  Science  in  the 
University  of  South  Carolina,  he  wrote:  "I  have  long  had 
under  contemplation  and  been  collecting  materials  for  the  plan 
of  a  university  in  Virginia  which  should  comprehend  all  the 
sciences  useful  to  us,  and  none  others.  The  general  idea  is 
suggested  in  the  Notes  on  Virginia  (query  14).  This  would 
probably  absorb  the  functions  of  William  and  Mary  College  and 
transfer  them  to  a  healthier  and  more  central  position,  perhaps 
to  the  neighborhood  of  this  place.  The  long  and  lingering 
decline  of  William  and  Mary,  the  death  of  its  last  President, 
its  location  and  climate,  force  on  us  the  wish  for  a  new  institu 
tion  more  convenient  to  our  country  generally,  and  better 
adapted  to  the  present  state  of  science.  I  have  been  told  that 
there  will  be  an  effort  in  the  present  session  of  our  legislature 
to  effect  such  an  establishment.  I  confess,  however,  that  I  have 
not  great  confidence  this  will  be  done."  After  the  lapse  of  half 
a  year  he  again  wrote  to  Dr.  Cooper,  asking  what  branches  of 
study  might  justly  be  regarded  as  most  essential,  and  how  the 
greatest  number  of  studies  could  be  assigned  to  each  professor, 
consistently  with  the  proper  attention  to  each.  Jefferson's  in 
terest  had  now  a  definite  aim.  The  legislature  had  finally 
authorized  the  President  and  Directors  of  the  Literary  Fund 
to  look  into  the  establishment  of  a  new  educational  institution, 
and  Jefferson  had  been  requested  to  prepare  for  this  Board  an 
address  which  should  embody  his  best  thought  upon  the  matter. 

Simultaneously  with  this  interest  in  the  progress  of  his  native 
State,  the  course  of  events  drew  his  attention  to  national  affairs. 
When  the  news  reached  Jefferson  that  the  city  of  Washington 
had  been  burned  by  the  British  in  August,  it  aroused  in  him 
an  indignation  which  he  had  not  felt  since  the  British  outrages 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  125 

of  his  own  last  administration.  Among  the  properties  destroyed 
had  been  the  Library  of  Congress,  a  valuable  and  extensive  col 
lection  of  volumes.  Jefferson  lost  no  time  in  offering  his  own 
library  to  Congress  at  its  own  price.  It  was  a  magnificent 
collection,  consisting  of  between  nine  and  ten  thousand  vol 
umes.  Jefferson  wrote  to  Samuel  H.  Smith,  who  had  been  a 
member  of  his  Cabinet  and  was  now  a  representative  from 
Maryland,  and  asked  him  to  lay  his  proposition  before  Congress. 
"You  know  my  collection,  its  condition  and  extent.  I  have 
been  fifty  years  making  it,  and  have  spared  no  pains,  oppor 
tunity  or  expense  to  make  it  what  it  is.  *  *  *  It  is  long 
since  I  have  been  sensible  it  ought  not  to  continue  private  prop 
erty,  and  had  provided  that  at  my  death  Congress  should  have 
the  refusal  of  it  at  their  own  price.  But  the  loss  they  have  now 
incurred  makes  the  present  the  proper  moment  for  their  accom 
modation,  without  regard  to  the  small  remnant  of  time  and  the 
barren  use  of  my  enjoying  it.  *  *  *  Congress  may  enter 
into  immediate  use  of  it,  as  eighteen  or  twenty  wagons  would 
place  it  in  Washington  in  a  single  trip  of  a  fortnight.  I  should 
be  willing,  indeed,  to  retain  a  few  of  the  books  to  amuse  the 
time  I  have  yet  to  pass,  which  might  be  valued  with  the  rest, 
but  not  included  in  the  sum  of  valuation  until  they  should  be 
restored  at  my  death,  which  I  would  carefully  provide  for,  so 
that  the  whole  library  as  it  stands  in  the  catalogue  at  this 
moment  should  be  theirs  without  any  garbling."  The  matter 
provoked  an  unpleasant  debate  in  the  House.  It  stirred  up  the 
old  dislike  for  Jefferson  on  the  part  of  some  members,  and  inti 
mations  were  not  wanting  that  Jefferson  had  a  personal  advan 
tage  to  serve.  A  bill  was,  however,  carried  through  by  an  over 
whelming  vote,  thanking  Jefferson  for  his  offer,  and  paying  him 
the  sum  of  $23,950.  This  was  far  below  the  original  cost, 
and  the  assaults  upon  Jefferson  were  unworthy  of  their  authors. 
The  year  1815  was  spent  by  Jefferson  in  the  usual  routine  of 
his  domestic  pursuits.  During  the  early  part  of  it  he  was 
constantly  employed  upon  the  cataloguing  and  shipment  of  the 
library.  He  himself  sums  up  the  uniform  tenor  of  his  life  at  this 
period.  "I  retain  good  health,  am  rather  too  weak  to  walk 


126  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

much,  but  ride  with  ease,  passing-  two  or  three  hours  a  day  on 
horseback,  and  every  three  or  four  months  taking  in  a  carriage 
a  journey  of  ninety  miles  to  a  distant  possession,  where  I  pass  a 
good  deal  of  my  time.  My  eyes  need  the  aid  of  glasses  by 
night,  and  with  small  print  in  the  day  also.  My  hearing  is  not 
quite  so  sensitive  as  it  used  to  be,  no  tooth  shaking  yet,  but 
shivering  and  shrinking  in  body  from  the  cold  we  now  experi 
ence,  my  thermometer  having  been  as  low  as  twelve  degrees 
this  morning.  My  greatest  oppression  is  a  correspondence 
afflictingly  laborious.  *  *  *  Could  I  reduce  this  epistolary 
corvte  within  the  limits  of  my  friends  and  affairs,  and  give  the 
time  redeemed  from  it  to  reading  and  reflection,  to  history, 
ethics,  mathematics,  my  life  would  be  as  happy  as  the  infirmities 
of  age  would  admit,  and  I  could  look  on  its  consummation  with 
the  composure  of  one  qui  summum  metuit  diem  nee  optat." 

This  self-imposed  task  of  writing  an  appropriate  answer  to 
each  letter  that  reached  him  became  more  and  more  intolerable. 
He  found  scant  time  for  the  few  correspondents  for  whom  he 
really  cared.  Even  Adams'  letters  went  for  months  unanswered. 
Finally  at  the  end  of  1816  a  heart-felt  cry  for  relief  was  wrung 
from  him.  He  wrote  to  Adams:  "Delaplaine  lately  requested 
me  to  give  him  a  line  on  the  subject  of  his  book;  meaning,  as 
I  well  knew,  to  publish  it.  This  I  constantly  refuse;  but  in  this 
instance  yielded  that,  in  saying  a  word  for  him  I  might  say  two 
for  myself.  I  expressed  in  it  freely  my  sufferings  from  this 
source,  hoping  it  would  have  the  effect  of  an  indirect  appeal  to 
the  indiscretion  of  those,  strangers  and  others,  who,  in  the  most 
friendly  disposition,  oppress  me  with  their  concerns,  their  pur 
suits,  their  projects,  inventions  and  speculations,  political, 
moral,  religious,  mechanical,  mathematical,  historical,  etc.,  etc., 
etc.  I  hope  this  appeal  will  bring  me  relief."  His  friends  seem 
to  have  taken  the  hint,  for  his  correspondence  from  this  date 
shows  a  decided  falling  off,  though,  indeed,  implicit  reliance  is 
not  to  be  placed  in  the  proportion  of  the  published  letters. 

It  was  in  1817  that  the  goal  toward  which  Jefferson  had  been 
striving  so  long  came  in  view.  At  the  preceding  session  of  the 
legislature,  his  ideas  on  higher  education  had  been  embodied 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  I2/ 

in  the  establishment  of  what  was  called  the  "Central  College," 
and  money  had  been  appropriated  for  the  erection  of  buildings 
in  Albemarle  County.  Work  had  already  begun  upon  them 
when  with  the  sanction  of  the  legislature  the  scope  and  title 
of  the  institution  were  changed.  The  name  of  "The  University 
of  Virginia"  was  adopted,  and  all  that  had  been  done  upon  the 
Central  College  was  embodied  in  the  new  scheme.  The  first 
Board  of  Visitors  had  Jefferson  at  their  head,  under  the  title  of 
Rector,  and  their  first  meeting  was  held  in  May,  1817.  Hence 
forward  the  history  of  the  founding  of  the  University  of  Vir 
ginia  is  virtually  the  history  of  Jefferson's  private  life  and  labors. 

The  progress  of  the  work  upon  the  university  was  beginning1 
to  realize  Jefferson's  hopes;  but  obstacles  now  arose  in  com 
parison  with  which  all  former  ones  seemed  trifling.  The  col 
leges  already  existing  in  Virginia  strenuously  opposed  granting 
special  favors  to  so  dangerous  a  rival  as  Jefferson's  institution 
would  surely  be.  The  university  had  also  to  suffer  the  attacks 
of  the  clergy  and  the  orthodox  element  of  the  State.  These 
assailed  especially  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Cooper  to  the  chair 
of  chemistry.  He  was  known  to  be  a  man  of  very  liberal  views 
touching  religious  and  denominational  questions,  and  the 
charge  was  freely  made  that  he  was  a  Unitarian,  if,  indeed,  a 
believer  at  all  in  the  Christian  faith.  Jefferson's  fellow  members 
on  the  Board  of  Visitors  saw  that  to  retain  Dr.  Cooper  would 
imperil  the  future  of  the  university,  and  the  matter  was  laid 
unreservedly  before  Dr.  Cooper  himself.  With  a  promptness 
and  good  humor  which  does  him  honor,  he  resigned  and  thus 
one  difficulty  was  removed.  Jefferson  himself  was  much  cha 
grined,  for  he  had  set  his  heart  upon  having  in  the  State,  and 
especially  as  a  neighbor,  a  man  of  Dr.  Cooper's  talents  and 
scholarship. 

The  prospect,  however,  was  not  yet  clear  on  the  financial 
side.  The  amount  which  was  necessary  for  the  adequate  start 
ing  and  support  of  the  university  was  still  unappropriated,  and 
Jefferson  had  many  dark  moments  of  uncertainty  about  it.  He 
spared  no  arguments  to  impress  upon  the  leaders  of  his  State 
how  urgent  was  the  need  of  improvement  in  all  that  pertained 


128  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

to  education.  To  Joseph  C.  Cabell,  one  of  his  co-workers,  he 
wrote  at  the  close  of  1820  a  letter  which  shows,  as  does  hardly 
any  other,  his  clearness  of  vision.  He  had  none  of  that  wilful 
blindness  to  local  conditions  of  which  public  men  are  so  often 
guilty. 

"Surely,"  he  wrote,  "the  pride  as  well  as  the  patriotism  of  our 
legislature  will  be  stimulated  to  look  to  the  reputation  and 
safety  of  their  own  country,  to  rescue  it  from  the  degradation 
of  becoming  the  Barbary  of  the  Union  and  of  falling  into  the 
ranks  of  our  own  negroes.  To  that  condition  it  is  fast  sinking. 
We  shall  be  in  the  hands  of  the  other  States,  what  our  indig 
enous  predecessors  were  when  invaded  by  the  science  and 
arts  of  Europe.  The  mass  of  education  in  Virginia,  before  the 
revolution,  placed  her  with  the  foremost  of  her  sister  colonies. 
What  is  her  education  now?  Where  is  it?  The  little  we  have 
we  import  like  beggars  from  other  States;  or  import  their 
beggars  to  bestow  on  us  their  miserable  crumbs.  And  what  is 
wanting  to  restore  us  to  our  station  among  our  competitors? 
Not  more  money  from  the  people.  Enough  has  been  raised  by 
them,  and  appropriated  to  this  very  object.  It  is  that  it  should 
be  employed  understandingly,  and  for  their  greatest  good." 

In  the  attitude  of  the  next  legislature  toward  the  university 
lay  a  bitter  disappointment  for  Jefferson.  In  members  from 
whom  he  had  expected  co-operation  he  met  indifference,  doubt, 
even  hostility.  Early  in  1821  he  again  wrote  Cabell,  this  time 
in  great  dejection,  but  with  no  weakening  as  to  the  extreme 
importance  of  his  position.  "I  am  filled  with  gloom  as  to  the 
disposition  of  our  legislature  toward  the  university.  I  perceive 
that  I  am  not  to  live  to  see  it  open.  *  *  *  My  individual 
opinion  is,  that  we  had  better  not  open  the  institution  until  the 
buildings,  library  and  all  are  finished,  and  our  funds  cleared  of 
incumbrance.  *  *  *  If  we  were  to  begin  sooner,  with  half 
funds  only,  it  would  satisfy  the  common  mind,  prevent  their  aid 
beyond  that  point,  and  our  institution  remaining  at  that  forever 
would  be  no  more  than  the  paltry  academies  we  now  have. 
Even  with  the  whole  funds  we  shall  be  reduced  to  six  profes 
sors,  while  Harvard  will  still  prime  it  over  us  with  her  twenty 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  129 

professors.  How  many  of  our  youths  she  now  has,  learning  the 
lessons  of  anti-Missourian-ism,  I  know  not;  but  a  gentleman 
lately  from  Princeton  told  me  he  saw  there  the  list  of  the 
students  at  that  place,  and  that  more  than  half  were  Virginians. 
These  will  return  home,  no  doubt,  deeply  impressed  with  the 
sacred  principles  of  our  Holy  Alliance  of  restrictionists.  But 
the  gloomiest  of  all  prospects  is  in  the  desertion  of  the  best 
friends  of  the  institution — for  desertion  I  must  call  it." 

Late  in  the  year  1823  the  Board  of  Visitors  decided  to  wait 
no  longer  for  favorable  action  by  the  legislature,  but  began  to 
look  around  for  proper  men  to  fill  the  chairs  of  the  new  institu 
tion.  The  Board  was  unanimous  in  its  conviction  that  the  best 
men  were  to  be  found  abroad,  and  a  special  agent  was  sent  to 
Oxford,  Cambridge  and  Edinburgh,  a  policy  which  provoked 
much  adverse  criticism  in  certain  quarters.  During  the  next 
few  months  most  of  the  Faculty  were  selected  and  the  opening 
date  was  set  for  March,  1825.  Some  of  the  Faculty  were  delayed 
in  crossing  the  Atlantic,  a  circumstance  which  caused  Jefferson 
much  uneasiness  both  for  their  safety  and  for  the  delay  occa 
sioned  to  the  beginning  of  work.  By  June  there  were  in  attend 
ance  upon  lectures  nearly  a  hundred  students.  The  pride  and 
satisfaction  with  which  Jefferson  thus  saw  the  fruition  of  his 
hopes  can  hardly  be  expressed.  His  interest  in  everything 
touching  the  institution  was  absorbing.  He  cultivated  the  per 
sonal  acquaintance  and  friendship  of  each  member  of  the 
Faculty,  and  his  counsel  was  ready  on  any  question  which  arose. 
With  his  high  ideals  of  conduct,  he  could  not  bring  himself  to 
palliate  mischief  or  disorderly  conduct  among  those  whom  he 
considered  assembled  for  the  most  sacred  pursuit  of  life.  He 
advocated  the  employment  of  summary  measures  against  the 
first  boyish  offenders  upon  whose  cases  his  advice  had  been 
requested — probably  the  sole  instance  of  severity  recorded  of 
him. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  year,  Jefferson's  pecuniary  troubles 
assumed  a  form  which  could  be  no  longer  ignored  or  concealed. 
They  were  due  to  no  sudden  reverse  of  fortune,  but  their  causes 
are  to  be  traced  backward  through  many  years.  It  is  significant 


130  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

of  the  man's  character  that  a  correspondence  so  voluminous 
as  was  his  and  so  confidential,  should,  with  the  single  exception 
of  the  letter  already  noticed,  have  made  no  allusions  to  a  sub 
ject  so  important  and  so  calculated  to  absorb  one's  thoughts. 
Though  Jefferson  had  started  life  with  a  good  inheritance,  and 
had  by  skilful  management  throughout  his  young  manhood 
materially  increased  it,  a  certain  fatality  seemed  afterwards  to 
follow  his  property.  On  the  dower  which  his  wife  brought  him, 
there  rested  a  British  debt  of  one-third  its  value.  This  debt 
he  paid  twice,  having  turned  it  over  to  the  State  in  accordance 
with  a  statute,  and  yet  refusing  to  allow  it  to  be  paid  in  de 
preciated  State  scrip.  This  required  the  sale  of  a  portion  of  his 
estate,  which  went  at  a  heavy  sacrifice.  After  the  Revolutionary 
war,  he  was  in  public  service  continuously  from  1784  to  1809, 
with  the  exception  of  three  years.  From  none  of  the  offices  he 
held,  save  that  of  Vice-President,  was  he  able  to  meet  his  ex 
penses,  but  he  was  forced  to  draw  largely  upon  his  own  private 
fortune.  Nor  was  he  guilty  of  extravagance  during  this  period. 
A  retrenchment  of  expenses  may,  it  is  true,  have  been  possible 
on  certain  points;  but  he  regarded  the  demands  of  hospitality 
and  a  fitting  style  of  life  as  expected  of  him.  Serious  as  were 
these  drains  upon  his  property,  it  was  at  the  time  of  his  retire 
ment  from  the  Presidency,  sufficient  to  have  kept  him  in  more 
than  comfort  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  appreciated,  however, 
that  to  this  end  there  was  need  of  careful  management,  especially 
as  he  found  his  estates  in  much  the  same  condition  as  on  his 
retirement  from  Washington's  Cabinet.  But  a  style  of  living 
was  now  forced  upon  him  which,  as  the  years  went  by,  more 
and  more  effectually  did  away  with  his  hope  that  he  might  again 
set  his  affairs  upon  a  firm  footing.  He  was  subjected  to  the 
demands  of  the  most  extensive  and  miscellaneous  hospitality 
that  our  nation  has  ever  seen.  No  estate  of  his  day  could  have 
stood  such  a  drain  upon  it.  To  this  were  added  the  disastrous 
financial  results  of  the  war  of  1812;  and  in  1819  Jefferson  was 
called  upon  to  pay  an  endorsement  of  twenty  thousand  dollars 
for  an  intimate  friend.  This  left  him  a  ruined  man.  He  had  no 
complaints  to  utter,  either  against  fortune,  or  against  any  indi- 


OF   THOMAS  JEFFERSON  131 

vidual  who  had  contributed  to  his  losses,  or  against  himself. 
His  former  enemies  lost  much  of  their  old  feelings  toward  him 
in  admiration  of  his  unmurmuring  acceptance  of  a  fate  which, 
without  fault  of  his  own,  thus  came  to  overshadow  the  close 
of  his  career.  A  sale  of  his  property  at  that  time  would  have 
been  the  merest  sacrifice;  and  he  refused  unconditionally  to 
accept  a  loan  or  gift  from  the  State  treasury,  as  was  suggested 
by  his  friends.  Early  in  1826,  he  petitioned  the  legislature  to 
allow  him  to  dispose  of  his  personal  effects  by  lottery,  a  means, 
as  he  wrote  Madison,  "often  resorted  to  before  the  Revolution 
to  effect  large  sales,  and  still  in  constant  usage  in  every  State 
for  individual  as  well  as  corporation  purposes.  If  it  is  permitted 
in  my  case,  my  land  here  alone,  with  the  mills,  etc.,  will  pay 
everything,  and  leave  me  Monticello  and  a  farm  free.  If  re 
fused,  I  must  sell  everything  here,  perhaps  considerable  in  Bed 
ford,  move  thither  with  my  family,  where  I  have  not  even  a  log 
hut  to  put  my  head  into,  and  whether  ground  for  burial,  will 
depend  upon  the  depredations,  which,  under  the  form  of  sales, 
shall  have  been  committed  upon  my  property."  He  also  drew 
up  for  submission  to  the  legislature  a  paper  called  "Thoughts 
on  Lotteries,"  his  last  document  of  a  public  nature.  In  it  he 
took  the  ground  that  there  was  nothing  immoral  in  a  lottery 
scheme  of  itself,  for  every  pursuit  might  in  a  certain  sense  be 
said  to  be  a  lottery;  and  he  cited  numerous  instances  of  its 
employment  in  Virginia  for  various  public  enterprises,  for 
private  societies  and  individuals,  and  even  for  religious  congre 
gations.  The  threatened  opposition  died  out,  and  the  bill  to 
authorize  his  request  was  passed  without  trouble.  But  it  was 
not  carried  into  effect  during  Jefferson's  lifetime.  Other  States 
through  their  large  cities  came  forward  and  fulfilled  the  duty 
which  Virginia  neglected.  Sums  were  raised  by  popular  sub 
scription,  and  promptly  forwarded  to  him.  He  had  no  hesita 
tion  in  receiving  these,  and  he  did  so  with  a  feeling  of  mingled 
gratitude  and  pride  that  his  public  services  were  thus  remem 
bered.  As  it  was,  when  the  lottery  was  held  it  failed  to  realize 
the  half  of  the  sum  hoped  for;  and  his  lands  put  up  for  sale 
fell  far  short  of  their  original  cost.  It  was  a  blessing  that  Jeffer- 


J32  THE   LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

son  had  not  lived  to  see  this,  or  the  loss  of  his  home  and  estate 
to  his  daughter's  family. 

Through  the  spring  of  1826,  Jefferson's  health  failed  rapidly. 
He  still  took  his  daily  ride  on  horseback,  refusing  to  be  accom 
panied  by  a  servant;  but  before  the  summer  he  had  grown  too 
weak  to  move  from  his  chair  and  couch.  His  mind,  however,  re 
tained  its  power  and  clearness  throughout.  He  read  much  in 
the  Bible  and  in  the  Greek  tragedians  and  wrote  several  letters 
of  some  length,  the  last  being  dated  June  24th.  It  was  an  ac 
knowledgment  of  an  invitation  to  be  present  in  Washington 
City  at  the  celebration  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  Declara 
tion  of  American  Independence. 

From  the  middle  of  June,  the  strength  still  left  in  his  once 
powerful  frame  rapidly  declined,  and  he  quietly  breathed  his 
last  shortly  after  mid-day  of  July  4th,  a  few  hours  after  his  old 
colleague,  opponent,  and  devoted  friend,  John  Adams,  had 
passed  away.  Jefferson  was  laid  to  rest  by  the  side  of  the  wife 
whom  he  had  so  fondly  loved,  and  within  sight  of  the  stately 
buildings  to  which  the  thought  and  activity  of  his  last  years 
had  been  devoted.  On  his  simple  tombstone  is  the  inscription: 

Here  was  buried 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON 

author  of  the 

Declaration 

of 
American  Independence 

of  the 
Statute  of  Virginia 

for 

Religious  Freedom 

And  Father  of  the 

University  of  Virginia. 


Born  April  2,  1743,  O.  S. 
Died  July  4,  1826. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON, 

CONSISTING  OF  HIS  PRINCIPAL  STATE  PAPERS, 

AND  EXTRACTS  FROM  HIS  OFFICIAL  AND 

PRIVATE   CORRESPONDENCE. 

EXPLANATION  OF  REFERENCES  : 

F— Ford's   Writings  of  Jefferson. 

C — Congressional  Edition  of  Jefferson's   Works. 

R — Randall's  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson. 

ACADEMY,  A  NATIONAL. — I  have  often  wished  we  could  have  a 
philosophical  society  or  academy  so  organized  as  that  while  the 
central  academy  should  be  at  the  seat  of  government,  its  mem 
bers  dispersed  over  the  State  should  constitute  filiated  academies 
in  each  State,  and  publish  their  communications,  from  which  the 
central  academy  should  select  what  should  be  most  choice.  In 
this  way  all  the  members  wheresoever  dispersed  might  be 
brought  into  action,  and  an  useful  emulation  might  arise  be 
tween  the  filiated  societies.  Perhaps  the  great  societies  now 
existing  might  incorporate  themselves  in  this  way  with  the 
National  one.  (To  Joel  Barlow,  1805,  F.  VIIL,  425.) 

ADAMS,  JOHN. —  His  [John  Adams']  vanity  is  a  lineament  in 
his  character  which  has  entirely  escaped  me.  His  want  of  taste 
I  had  observed.  Notwithstanding  all  this,  he  has  a  sound  head 
on  substantial  points,  and  I  think  he  has  integrity.  I  am  glad, 
therefore,  he  is  of  the  commission  for  negotiating  peace  and 
expect  he  will  be  useful  in  it.  His  dislike  of  all  parties,  and 
all  men,  by  balancing  his  prejudices,  may  give  them  some  fair 
play  to  his  reason  as  would  a  general  benevolence  of  temper. 
At  any  rate  honesty  may  be  extracted  from  poisonous  weeds. 
(To  James  Madison,  1783.  F.  III.,  310.) 

ADAMS,  JOHN. — I  am  afraid  the  indiscretion  of  a  printer  has 
committed  me  with  my  friend  Mr.  Adams,  for  whom  as  one  of 
the  most  honest  and  disinterested  men  alive  I  have  a  cordial 
esteem,  increased  by  long  habits  of  concurrence  in  opinion  in 

133 


134  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

the  days  of  his  Republicanism;  and  ever  since  his  apostasy  to 
hereditary  monarchy  and  nobility,  though  we  differ,  we  differ  as 
friends  should  do.  (To  Washington,  1791,  F.  V.,  329.) 

ADAMS,  JOHN. — That  your  administration  may  be  filled  with 
glory  and  happiness  to  yourself  and  advantage  to  us  is  the 
sincere  wish  of  one,  who,  though  in  the  course  of  our  own 
voyage  through  life  various  little  incidents  have  happened  or 
been  contrived  to  separate  us,  retains  still  for  you  the  solid  es 
teem  of  the  moments  when  we  were  working  for  our  indepen 
dence,  and  sentiments  of  respect  and  affectionate  attachment. 
(To  John  Adams,  1797.  F.  VII. ,  98.) 

ADAMS,  SAMUEL. — A  letter  from  you,  my  respectable  friend, 
after  three  and  twenty  years  of  separation,  has  given  me  a  pleas 
ure  I  cannot  express.  It  recalls  to  my  mind  the  anxious  days 
we  then  passed  in  struggling  for  mankind.  Your  principles  have 
been  tested  in  the  crucible  of  time  and  have  come  out  pure. 
You  have  proved  that  it  was  monarchy,  and  not  merely  British 
monarchy,  you  opposed.  A  government  by  representation, 
elected  by  the  people  at  short  periods,  was  our  object;  and  our 
maxim  at  that  day  w7as  "where  annual  election  ends,  tyranny 
begins;"  nor  have  our  departures  from  it  been  sanctioned  by 
the  happiness  of  their  effect.  (To  Samuel  Adams,  1800.  F. 

VII.,  425.) 

ADAMS,  SAMUEL. — In  meditating  the  matter  of  that  address 
[the  first  inaugural]  I  often  asked  myself  is  this  exactly  in  the 
spirit  of  the  patriarch  of  liberty,  Samuel  Adams?  Is  it  as  he 
would  express  it?  Will  he  approve  of  it?  I  have  felt  a  great 
deal  for  our  country  in  the  times  we  have  seen.  But  individ 
ually  for  no  one  as  for  yourself.  When  I  have  been  told  that 
you  were  avoided,  insulted,  frowned  on,  I  could  but  ejaculate, 
'Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do/  I  con 
fess  I  felt  an  indignation  for  you  which  for  myself  I  have  been 
able  under  every  trial  to  keep  entirely  passive.  However,  the 
storm  is  over,  and  we  are  in  port.  (To  Samuel  Adams,  1801. 
F.  VIII.,  38.) 

ADAMS,  SAMUEL. — I  can  say  he  was  a  truly  great  man,  wise  in 
council,  fertile  in  resources,  immovable  in  his  purposes,  and 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  135 

had,  I  think,  a  greater  share  than  any  other  member  in  advis 
ing  and  directing  our  measures  in  the  northern  war  especially. 
As  a  speaker  he  could  not  be  compared  with  his  living  colleague 
and  namesake  whose  deep  conceptions,  nervous  style,  and  un 
daunted  firmness  made  him  truly  our  bulwark  in  debate.  But 
Mr.  Samuel  Adams,  although  not  of  fluent  elocution,  was  so 
rigorously  logical,  so  clear  in  his  views,  abundant  in  good  sense, 
and  master  always  of  his  subject  that  he  commanded  the  most 
profound  attention  whenever  he  arose  in  an  assembly  by  which 
the  froth  of  declaration  was  heard  with  the  most  sovereign  con 
tempt.  (To  S.  A.  Wells,  1819.  C.  VII.,  126.) 

AFFLICTION. — Deeply  practiced  in  the  school  of  affliction,  the 
human  heart  knows  no  joy  which  I  have  not  lost,  no  sorrow  of 
which  I  have  not  drunk!  Fortune  can  present  no  grief  of  un 
known  form  to  me.  Who  then  can  so  softly  bind  up  the  wound 
of  another  as  he  who  has  felt  the  same  wound  himself.  (To 
Mrs.  Maria  Cos  way.  Written  in  Paris,  1786.  F.  IV.,  316.) 

AGRICULTURE. — To  remove  as  much  as  possible  the  occasions 
of  making  war,  it  might  be  better  for  us  to  abandon  the  ocean 
altogether,  that  being  the  element  whereon  we  shall  be  prin 
cipally  exposed  to  jostle  with  other  nations;  to  leave  to  others 
to  bring  what  we  shall  want,  and  to  carry  what  we  can  spare. 
This  would  make  us  invulnerable  to  Europe,  by  offering  none 
of  our  property  to  their  prize,  and  would  turn  all  our  citizens  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  earth;  and  I  repeat  it  again,  cultivators  of 
the  earth  are  the  most  virtuous  and  independent  citizens.  (From 
"Notes  on  Virginia/'  1782.  F.  III.,  279.) 

AGRICULTURE. — We  have  an  immensity  of  land  courting  the 
industry  of  the  husbandman.  Is  it  best  then  that  all  our  citizens 
should  be  employed  in  its  improvement,  or  that  one-half  should 
be  called  off  from  that  to  exercise  manufactures  and  handicraft 
arts  for  the  other?  Those  who  labor  in  the  earth  are  the  chosen 
people  of  God,  if  he  ever  had  a  chosen  people,  whose  breasts 
he  has  made  his  peculiar  deposit  for  substantial  and  genuine 
virtue.  It  is  the  focus  in  which  he  keeps  alive  that  sacred  fire, 
which  otherwise  might  escape  from  the  earth.  Corruption  of 
morals  in  the  mass  of  cultivators  is  a  phenomenon  of  which  no 


136  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

age  or  nation  has  furnished  an  example.  It  is  the  mark  set  on 
those,  who  not  looking  up  to  Heaven,  to  their  own  soil  and  in 
dustry,  as  does  the  husbandman,  for  their  subsistence,  depend 
for  it  on  casualties  and  caprice  of  customers.  Dependence  be 
gets  subservience  and  venality  suffocates  the  germs  of  virtue, 
and  prepares  fit  tools  for  the  designs  of  ambition.  This,  the 
natural  progress  and  consequence  of  the  arts,  has  sometimes 
perhaps  been  retarded  by  accidental  circumstances;  but  gen 
erally  speaking,  the  proportion  which  the  aggregate  of  the  other 
classes  of  citizens  bears  in  any  State  to  that  of  its  husbandman, 
is  the  proportion  of  its  unsound  to  its  healthy  parts,  and  is 
a  good  enough  barometer  whereby  to  measure  its  degree  of 
corruption.  (From  Notes  on  Virginia,  1782.  F.  III.,  269.) 

AGRICULTURE. — I  think  our  government  will  remain  virtu 
ous  for  many  centuries,  as  long  as  they  are  chiefly  agricultural ; 
and  this  will  be  as  long  as  there  shall  be  vacant  lands  in  any  part 
of  America.  When  they  get  piled  upon  one  another  in  large 
cities,  as  in  Europe,  they  will  become  corrupt  as  in  Europe. 
(To  James  Madison,  1785.  F.  IV.,  479.) 

AGRICULTURE. — Were  I  to  indulge  my  own  theory,  I  should 
wish  our  States  to  practice  neither  commerce  nor  navigation, 
but  to  stand  with  respect  to  Europe  precisely  on  the  footing 
of  China.  We  would  thus  avoid  wars,  and  all  our  citizens  would 
be  husbandmen.  But  this  is  theory  only,  and  a  theory  which 
the  servants  of  America  are  not  at  liberty  to  follow.  Our  people 
have  a  decided  taste  for  navigation  and  commerce.  They  take 
this  from  their  mother  country;  and  their  servants  are  in  duty 
bound  to  calculate  all  their  measures  on  this  datum;  we  wish 
to  do  it  by  throwing  open  all  the  doors  of  commerce  and  knock 
ing  off  its  shackles.  But  as  this  cannot  be  done  for  others, 
unless  they  will  do  it  for  us,  I  suppose  we  shall  be  obliged  to 
adopt  a  system  which  may  shackle  them  in  our  parts  as  they 
do  us  in  theirs.  (From  a  letter  written  from  Paris  to  Hogen- 
dorp,  1785.  F.  IV.,  105.) 

AGRICULTURE. — Cultivators  of  the  earth  are  the  most  valuable 
citizens.  They  are  the  most  vigorous,  the  most  independent, 
the  most  virtuous,  and  they  are  tied  to  their  country  and  wedded 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  137 

to  its  liberty  and  interest  by  the  most  lasting  bonds.  As 
long,  therefore,  as  they  can  find  employment  in  this  line,  I 
would  not  convert  them  into  mariners,  artisans  or  anything  else. 
But  our  citizens  will  find  employment  in  this  line  till  their 
numbers  and,  of  course,  their  productions,  become  too  great 
for  the  demand  both  internal  and  foreign.  This  is  not  the 
case  as  yet,  and  probably  will  not  be  for  a  considerable  time. 
As  soon  as  it  is,  the  surplus  of  hands  must  be  turned  to  some 
thing  else.  I  should  then  perhaps  wish  to  turn  them  to  the  sea 
in  preference  to  manufactures,  because  comparing  the  charac 
ters  of  the  two  classes,  I  find  the  former  the  most  valuable  citi 
zens.  I  consider  the  class  of  artificers  as  the  founders  of  vice, 
and  the  instruments  by  which  the  liberties  of  a  country  are  gen 
erally  overturned.  (To  John  Jay,  1785.  F.  IV.,  88.) 

AGRICULTURE. — A  prosperity  built  on  the  basis  of  agriculture 
is  that  which  is  most  desirable  to  us,  because  to  the  effects  of 
labor  it  adds  the  effects  of  a  greater  portion  of  the  soil.  (To 
C.  W.  F.  Dumas,  1792.  F.  VI,  70.) 

AGRICULTURE. — See  Farming. 

^ALIEN  AND  SEDITION  LAWS. — I  consider  the  Alien  and  Sedition^ 
laws  as  merely  an  experiment  of  the  American  mind  to  see  how 
far  it  will  bear  an  avowed  violation  of  the  Constitution.  If  this 
goes  down  we  shall  immediately  see  attempted  another  act  of 
Congress  declaring  that  the  President  shall  continue  in  office 
during  life,  reserving  to  another  occasion  the  transfer  of  the 
succession  to  his  heirs,  and  the  establishment  of  the  Senate  for 
life.  At  least  this  may  be  the  aim  of  the  Oliverians,  while  Monk 
and  the  Cavaliers  (who  are  perhaps  the  strongest)  may  be  play 
ing  their  game  for  the  restoration  of  his  gracious  majesty  George 
the  Third.  That  these  things  are  in  contemplation,  I  have  no 
doubt;  nor  can  I  be  confident  of  their  failure,  after  the  dupery  of 
which  our  countrymen  have  shewn  themselves  susceptible.  (To 
S.  T.  Mason,  1798.  F.  VII.,  283.) 

ALIEN  AND  SEDITION  LAWS. — The  Alien  bill  is  reported  again 
very  much  softened,  and  if  the  proviso  can  be  added  to  its  saving 
treaties,  it  will  be  less  objectionable  than  I  thought  it  possible 
to  have  obtained.  *  *  *  They  have  brought  into  the 


138  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

Lower  House  a  Sedition  bill  which  among  other  enormities 
undertakes  to  make  printing  certain  matters  criminal,  though 
one  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution  has  so  expressly 
taken  religion,  printing  presses,  etc.,  out  of  their  coercion.  In 
deed  this  bill  and  the  Alien  bill  both  are  so  palpably  in  the 
teeth  of  the  Constitution  as  to  show  they  mean  to  pay  no  re 
spect  to  it.  (To  James  Madison,  1798.  F.  VII.,  266.) 

ALIEN  AND  SEDITION  LAWS. — See  Kentucky  Resolutions. 

ALLIANCES. — I  sincerely  join  you  in  abjuring  all  political  con 
nection  with  every  foreign  power;  and  though  I  cordially  wish 
well  to  the  progress  of  liberty  in  all  nations,  and  would  forever 
give  it  the  weight  of  our  countenance,  yet  they  are  not  to  be 
touched  without  contamination  from  their  other  bad  principles. 
Commerce  with  all  nations,  alliance  with  none,  should  be  our 
motto.  (To  Thomas  Lomax,  1799.  F.  VII.,  374.) 

AMBASSADORS. — After  mature  consideration  and  consultation, 
I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  Constitution  has  made  the  President 
the  sole  competent  judge  to  what  places  circumstances  render 
it  expedient  that  Ambassadors  or  other  public  ministers  should 
be  sent  and  of  what  grade  they  should  be;  and  that  it  has  as 
cribed  to  the  Senate  no  executive  act  but  the  single  one  of 
giving  or  withholding  their  consent  to  the  person  nominated. 
(From  a  draft  of  the  President's  Message  on  diplomatic  nom 
inations,  1792.  F.  V.,  415.) 

-  AMENDMENTS. — None  of  the  fundamental  laws  and  principles 
of  government  shall  be  repealed  or  altered  but  by  the  personal 
consent  of  the  people  on  summons  to  meet  in  their  respective 
counties  on  one  and  the  same  day  by  an  act  of  the  legislature 
to  be  passed  for  every  special  occasion;  and  if  in  such  county 
meetings  the  people  of  two-thirds  of  the  counties  shall  give  their 
suffrage  for  any  particular  alteration  or  repeal  referred  to  them 
by  the  said  act,  the  same  shall  be  accordingly  repealed  or  altered, 
and  such  repeal  or  alteration  shall  take  its  place  among  the  fun 
damentals  and  stand  on  the  same  footing  with  them,  in  lieu 
of  the  article  repealed  or  altered.  (From  a  proposed  Constitu 
tion  for  Virginia,  1776.  F.  II.,  29.) 
^AMENDMENTS. — The  real  friends  of  the  Constitution  in  its 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  139 

federal  form,  if  they  wish  it  to  be  immortal,  should  be  attentive, 
by  amendments,  to  make  it  keep  pace  with  the  advance  of  the 
age  in  science  and  experience.  (To  R.  J.  Garnet,  1824.  C. 
VII,  336.) 

ANARCHY. — The  British  ministry  have  so  long  hired  their 
gazetteers  to  repeat  and  model  into  every  form  lies  about  our 
being  in  anarchy,  that  the  world  has  at  length  believed  them, 
the  ministers  themselves  have  come  to  believe  them,  and  what 
is  more  wonderful  we  have  believed  them  ourselves.  Yet  where 
does  the  anarchy  exist?  When  did  it  ever  exist  except  in  the 
single  instance  of  Massachusetts?  [Referring  to  Shay's  Re 
bellion.]  (To  Stephens  Smith,  written  from  Paris,  1787.  F. 
IV.,  466.) 

ANIMALS.? — The  truth  is,  that  a  Pigmy  and  a  Patagonian,  a 
Mouse  and  a  Mammoth,  derive  their  dimensions  from  the  same 
nutritive  juices.  The  difference  of  increment  depends  upon 
circumstances  unsearchable  to  beings  with  our  capacities.  Every 
race  of  animals  seem  to  have  received  from  their  Maker  certain 
laws  of  extension  at  the  time  of  their  formation.  *  *  *  Be 
low  these  limits  they  cannot  fall,  nor  rise  above  them.  What 
intermediate  station  they  shall  take  may  depend  on  soil,  on  cli 
mate,  on  a  careful  choice  of  breeders.  But  all  the  manna  of 
Heaven  would  never  raise  the  Mouse  to  the  bulk  of  the  Mam 
moth.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia/'  1782.  F.  III.,  135.) 

THE  APOCALYPSE. — No  man  on  earth  has  less  taste  or  talent 
for  criticism  than  myself,  and  least  and  last  of  all  should  I  under 
take  to  criticise  works  on  the  Apocalypse.  It  is  between  fifty 
and  sixty  years  since  I  read  it  and  then  I  considered  it  as  merely 
the  ravings  of  a  maniac,  no  more  worthy,  nor  capable  of  ex 
planation  than  the  incoherence  of  our  own  nightly  dreams.  I 
was,  therefore,  well  pleased  to  see,  in  your  first  proof  sheet,  that 
it  was  said  to  be  not  the  production  of  St.  John,  but  of  Cerinthus 
a  century  after  the  death  of  that  apostle.  Yet  the  change  of  the 
author's  name  does  not  lessen  the  extravagancies  of  the  com 
position;  come  they  from  whomsoever  they  may,  I  cannot  so 
far  respect  them  as  to  consider  them  as  an  allegorical  narration 
of  events,  past  or  subsequent.  There  is  not  coherence  enough 


140  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

in  them  to  countenance  any  suite  of  national  ideas.  You  will 
judge,  therefore,  from  this  how  impossible  I  think  it  that  either 
your  explanation  or  that  of  any  man  in  "the  Heavens  above  or 
on  the  earth  beneath"  can  be  a  correct  one.  What  has  no 
meaning  admits  no  explanation!  (To  Gen.  Alexander  Smith, 
1825.  C.VII.,395.) 

APPROBATION. — In  a  virtuous  and  free  State  no  rewards  can 
be  so  pleasing  to  sensible  minds,  as  those  which  include  the 
approbation  of  our  fellow-citizens.  My  great  pain  is,  lest  my 
poor  endeavor  should  fall  short  of  the  kind  expectations  of  my 
country.  So  far  as  impartiality,  assiduous  attention,  and  sincere 
affection  to  the  great  American  cause,  shall  enable  me  to  fulfill 
the  duties  of  my  appointment,  so  far  I  may  with  confidence 
undertake.  (From  a  speech  to  the  General  Assembly,  made 
upon  assuming  the  duties  of  governor  of  Virginia,  1779.  F.  II., 

187.) 

ARISTOCRACY. — If  anybody  thinks  that  kings,  nobles,  or  priests 
are  good  conservators  of  the  public  happiness  send  them  here. 
It  is  the  best  school  in  the  universe  to  cure  them  of  their  folly. 
They  will  see  here  with  their  own  eyes  that  their  descriptions 
of  men  are  an  abandoned  confederacy  against  the  happiness  of 
the  mass  of  people.  The  omnipotence  of  their  effect  cannot  be 
better  proved  than  in  this  country  particularly,  where  notwith 
standing  the  finest  soil  upon  earth,  the  finest  climate  under 
heaven,  and  a  people  of  the  most  benevolent,  the  most  gay  and 
amiable  character  of  which  the  human  form  is  susceptible,  where 
such  a  people  I  say,  surrounded  by  so  many  blessings  from 
nature,  are  yet  loaded  with  misery  by  kings,  nobles  and  priests, 
and  by  them  alone.  (Written  from  Paris  to  George  Wythe, 
1786.  F.  IV.,  269.) 

ARISTOCRACY. — I  agree  with  you  that  there  is  a  natural  aris 
tocracy  among  men.  The  grounds  of  this  are  virtue  and 
talents.  Formerly,  bodily  powers  gave  place  among  the  aristoi. 
But  since  the  invention  of  gunpowder  has  armed  the  weak  as 
well  as  the  strong  with  missile  death,  bodily  strength,  like 
beauty,  good  humor,  politeness  and  other  accomplishments, 
has  become  but  an  auxiliary  ground  of  distinction.  There  is  also 


OF   THOMAS  JEFFERSON  141 

an  artificial  aristocracy  founded  on  wealth  and  birth,  without 
either  virtue  or  talents;  for  with  these  it  would  belong  to  the 
first  class.  The  natural  aristocracy  I  consider  as  the  most 
precious  gift  of  nature,  for  the  instruction,  the  trusts,  and  gov 
ernment  of  society.  And,  indeed,  it  would  have  been  incon 
sistent  in  creation  to  have  formed  man  for  the  social  state,  and 
not  to  have  provided  virtue  and  wisdom  enough  to  manage 
the  concerns  of  the  society.  May  we  not  even  say  that  that 
form  of  government  is  best,  which  provides  the  most  effectually 
for  a  pure  selection  of  these  natural  aristoi  into  the  offices  of 
government?  The  artificial  aristocracy  is  a  mischievous  in 
gredient  in  government,  and  provision  should  be  made  to 
prevent  its  ascendency.  On  the  question  what  is  the  best 
provision,  you  and  I  differ;  but  we  differ  as  rational  friends, 
using  the  tree  exercise  of  our  own  reason  and  mutually  indulg 
ing  its  errors.  You  think  it  best  to  put  the  pseudo-aristoi  into 
a  separate  chamber  of  legislature,  where  they  may  be  hindered 
from  doing  mischief  by  their  co-ordinate  branches,  and  where, 
also,  they  may  be  a  protection  to  wealth  against  the  Agrarian 
and  plundering  enterprises  of  the  majority  of  the  people.  I 
think  that  to  give  them  power  in  order  to  prevent  them  from 
doing  mischief,  is  arming  them  for  it,  and  increasing  instead 
of  remedying  the  evil.  For  if  the  co-ordinate  branches  can 
arrest  their  action,  so  may  they  that  of  the  co-ordinates.  Mis 
chief  may  be  done  negatively  as  well  as  positively.  Of  this  a 
cabal  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  has  furnished  many 
proofs.  Nor  do  I  believe  them  necessary  to  protect  the  wealthy; 
because  enough  of  these  will  find  their  way  into  every  branch  of 
the  legislature  to  protect  themselves.  From  fifteen  to  twenty 
legislatures  of  our  own,  in  action  for  thirty  years  past,  have 
proved  that  no  fears  of  an  equalization  of  property  are  to  be 
apprehended  from  them.  I  think  the  best  remedy  is  that  pro 
vided  by  all  our  constitutions,  to  leave  to  the  citizens  the  free 
election  and  separation  of  the  aristoi  from  the  pseudo-aristoi, 
of  the  wheat  from  the  chaff.  In  general  they  will  elect  the 
really  good  and  wise.  In  some  instances  wealth  may  corrupt, 


142  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

and  birth  blind  them;  but  not  in  sufficient  degree  to  endanger 
society.  (To  John  Adams,  1813.  C.  VI.,  224.) 

ARMS. — One  farther  favor  and  I  am  done;  to  search  the 
Herald's  office  for  the  arms  of  my  family.  I  have  what  I  have 
been  told  were  the  family  arms,  but  on  what  authority  I  know 
not.  It  is  possible  there  may  be  none.  If  so,  I  would  with 
your  assistance  become  a  purchaser,  having  Sterne's  word  for 
it  that  a  coat  of  arms  may  be  purchased  as  cheap  as  any  other 
coat.  (From  a  letter  written  to  Thomas  Adams,  a  merchant  of 
London,  1770.  F.  L,  389.) 

ARMY. — No  freeman  shall  be  debarred  the  use  of  arms  within 
his  own  lands.  There  shall  be  no  standing  army  but  in  time  of 
actual  war.  (From  a  proposed  Constitution  for  Virginia,  1776. 
F.  II.,  27.) 

ASSUMPTION. — It  was  a  real  fact  that  the  Eastern  and  South 
ern  members  (South  Carolina,  however,  was  with  the  former) 
had  got  into  the  most  extreme  ill  humor  with  one  another. 
This  broke  out  on  every  question  with  the  most  alarming  heat, 
the  bitterest  animosities  seemed  to  be  engendered,  and  though 
they  met  every  day,  little  or  nothing  could  be  done  from  mutual 
distrust  and  antipathy.  On  considering  the  situation  of  things 
I  thought  the  first  step  toward  some  conciliation  of  views 
would  be  to  bring  Mr.  Madison  and  Colonel  Hamilton  to  a 
friendly  discussion  of  the  subject.  I  immediately  wrote  to 
each  to  come  and  dine  with  me  the  next  day,  mentioning  that 
we  should  be  alone,  that  the  object  was  to  find  some  tem 
perament  for  the  present  fever,  and  that  I  was  persuaded  that 
men  of  sound  heads  and  honest  views  needed  nothing  more 
than  explanation  and  mutual  understanding  to  enable  them  to 
unite  in  some  measures  which  might  enable  us  to  get  along. 
They  came,  I  opened  the  subject  to  them,  acknowledged  that 
my  situation  had  not  permitted  me  to  understand  it  sufficiently 
but  encouraged  them  to  consider  the  thing  together.  They 
did  so;  it  ended  in  Mr.  Madison's  acquiescence  in  a  proposition 
that  the  question  should  again  be  brought  before  the  House 
by  way  of  amendment  from  the  Senate,  that  though  he  would 
not  vote  for  it,  nor  entirely  withdraw  his  opposition,  yet  he 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  143 

would  not  be  strenuous,  but  leave  it  to  its  fate.  It  was  ob 
served,  I  forgot  by  which  of  them,  that  as  the  pill  would  be  a 
bitter  one  to  the  Southern  States,  something  should  be  done 
to  soothe  them,  that  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  to 
the  Potomac  was  a  just  measure  and  would  probably  be  a  pop 
ular  one  with  them,  and  would  be  a  proper  one  to  follow  the 
assumption.  It  was  agreed  to  speak  to  Mr.  White  and  Mr.  Lee 
whose  districts  lay  on  the  Potomac  and  to  refer  to  them  to 
consider  how  far  the  interests  of  their  particular  districts  might 
be  a  sufficient  inducement  in  them  to  yield  to  the  assumption. 
This  was  done.  Lee  came  to  it  without  hesitation;  Mr.  White 
had  qualms,  but  finally  agreed.  The  measure  came  down  by 
way  of  amendment  from  the  Senate  and  was  finally  carried  by 
the  change  of  White's  and  Lee's  votes.  But  the  removal  to 
the  Potomac  could  not  be  carried  unless  Pennsylvania  could 
be  engaged  in  it.  This  Hamilton  took  on  himself,  and,  chiefly, 
as  I  understood,  through  the  agency  of  Robert  Morris,  obtained 
a  vote  of  that  State,  on  agreeing  to  an  intermediate  residence 
in  Philadelphia.  This  is  the  history  of  the  assumption,  about 
which  many  erroneous  conjectures  have  been  published.  It 
was  unjust  in  itself,  oppressive  to  the  States,  and  was  acquiesced 
in  merely  from  a  fear  of  discession.  While  our  government 
was  still  in  its  most  infant  state,  it  enabled  Hamilton  so  to 
strengthen  himself  by  corrupt  services  to>  many  that  he  could 
afterward  carry  his  bank  scheme,  and  every  measure  he  pro 
posed  in  defiance  of  all  opposition;  in  fact,  it  was  a  principal 
ground  whereon  was  reared  up  that  speculating  phalanx  in  and 
out  of  Congress  which  has  since  been  able  to  give  laws  to 
change  the  political  complexion  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  (From  an  undated  manuscriot,  probably  writ 
ten  in  1793.  F.  VI.,  173.) 

ATHEISM. — As  to  the  calumny  of  Atheism,  I  am  so  broken  to 
calumnies  of  every  kind,  from  every  department  of  government, 
Executive,  Legislative,  and  Judiciary,  and  from  every  mission 
of  theirs  holding  office  or  seeking  it,  that  I  entirely  disregard 
jk  *  *  *  jt  kas  been  so  impossible  to  contradict  all  their 
lies,  that  I  am  determined  to  contradict  none;  for  while  I  should 


144  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

be  engaged  with  one,  they  would  publish  twenty  new  ones.  (To 
James  Monroe,  1800.  F.  VII.,  448.) 

BANKS. — But  it  will  be  asked  are  we  to  have  no  banks  ?  Are 
merchants  and  others  to  be  deprived  of  the  resource  of  short 
accommodations  found  so  convenient?  I  answer,  let  us  have 
banks;  but  let  them  be  such  as  are  alone  to  be  found  in  any 
country  on  earth  except  Great  Britain.  There  is  not  a  bank  of 
discount  on  the  continent  of  Europe  (at  least  there  was  not  one 
when  I  was  there)  which  offers  anything  but  cash  in  exchange 
for  discounted  bills.  No  one  has  a  natural  right  to  the  trade  of 
a  money  lender  but  he  who  has  the  money  to  lend.  Let  those 
then  among  us,  who  have  a  moneyed  capital,  and  who  prefer 
employing  it  in  bonds  rather  than  otherwise,  set  up  banks,  and 
give  cash  or  national  bills  for  the  notes  they  discount.  Perhaps, 
to  encourage  them,  a  larger  interest  than  is  legal  in  the  other 
cases  might  be  allowed  them  on  the  condition  of  their  lending 
for  short  periods  only.  It  is  from  Great  Britain  we  copy  the 
idea  of  giving  paper  in  exchange  for  discounted  bills;  and, 
while  we  have  derived  from  that  country  some  good  principles 
of  government  and  legislation,  we  unfortunately  run  into  the 
most  servile  imitation  of  all  her  practices,  ruinous  as  they  prove 
to  her,  and  with  the  gulf  yawning  before  us  into  which  these 
very  practices  are  precipitating  her.  The  unlimited  emission  of 
bank  paper  has  banished  all  her  specie,  and  is  now,  by  a  deprecia 
tion  acknowledged  by  her  own  statesmen,  carrying  her  rapidly 
to  bankruptcy  as  it  did  France,  as  it  did  us,  and  will  do  us 
again,  and  every  country  permitting  paper  to  be  circulated 
other  than  that  by  public  authority  rigorously  limited  to  the 
just  measure  of  circulation.  (To  J.  W.  Eppes,  1813.  C.  VI., 
141.) 

BANKS.- — They  have  passed  a  bill  for  establishing  a  bank  to 
which  it  is  objected  that  they  have  transcended  their  powers. 
There  are  certainly  persons  in  all  the  departments  who  are  for 
driving  too  fast.  Government,  being  founded  on  opinion,  the 
opinion  of  the  public,  even  when  it  is  wrong,  ought  to  be 
respected  to  a  certain  degree.  The  prudence  of  the  President 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  145 

is  an  anchor  of  safety  to  us.    (To  Nicholas  Lewis,  1791.    F.  V., 
282.) 

— ^BANK,  NATIONAL. — The  incorporation  of  a  bank,  and  the  pow 
er  assumed  by  this  bill,  have  not,  in  my  opinion,  been  delegated  to 
the  United  States  by  the  Constitution.  They  are  not  among 
the  powers  specially  enumerated;  for  these  are:  1st.  A  power*' 
to  lay  taxes  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  debts  of  the  United 
States;  but  no  debt  is  payed  by  this  bill,  nor  any  tax  laid.  2d. 
"To  borrow  money."  But  this  bill  neither  borrows  money  nor 
ensures  the  borrowing  it.  *  *  *  3d.  "To  regulate  com 
merce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  States,  and  with  the 
Indian  tribes."  To  erect  a  bank  and  regulate  commerce  are 
very  different  acts.  He  who  erects  a  bank  creates  a  subject  of 
commerce  in  its  bills;  so  does  he  who  makes  a  bushel  of  wheat, 
or  digs  a  dollar  out  of  the  mines ;  yet  neither  of  these  persons 
regulates  commerce  thereby.  To  make  a  thing  which  may  be 
bought  and  sold,  is  not  to  prescribe  the  regulations  for  buying 
and  selling.  *  *  *  Still  less  are  these  powers  covered  by^ 
any  other  of  the  special  regulations.  Nor  are  they  within 
either  of  the  general  phrases,  which  are  the  two  following:  I. 
To  lay  taxes  to  provide  for  the  general  welfare  of  the  United 
States,  that  is  to  say,  "to  lay  taxes  for  the  purpose  of  providing 
for  the  general  welfare."  For  the  laying  of  taxes  is  the  power, 
and  the  general  welfare  the  purpose  for  which  the  power  is  to  be 
exercised.  They  are  not  to  lay  taxes  ad  libitum  for  any  puri, 
pose  they  please;  but  only  to  pay  the  debts  or  provide  for  the 
welfare  of  the  Union.  In  like  manner,  they  are  not  to  do  any 
thing  they  please  to  provide  for  the  general  welfare,  but  only 
to  lay  taxes  for  that  purpose.  To  consider  the  latter  phrase,  not 
as  describing  the  purpose  of  the  first,  but  as  giving  a  distinct 
and  independent  power  to  do  any  act  they  please  which  might 
be  for  the  good  of  the  Union  would  render  all  the  preceding 
and  subsequent  enumerations  of  power  completely  useless.  It 
would  reduce  the  whole  instrument  to  a  single  phrase,  that  of 
instituting  a  Congress  with  power  to  do  whatever  would  be  for 
the  good  of  the  United  States;  and,  as  they  would  be  the  sole 
judge  of  the  good  or  evil,  it  would  be  also  a  power  to  do  what- 


146  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

ever  evil  they  please.  2.  The  second  general  phrase  is,  "to"<U-«- 
make  all  laws  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying-  into  execution 
the  enumerated  powers."  But  they  can  all  be  carried  into 
execution  without  a  bank.  A  bank,  therefore,  is  not  necessary 
and  consequently  not  authorized  by  this  phrase.  *  *  *  It' 
may  be  said  that  a  bank  whose  bills  would  have  a  currency  all 
over  the  States,  would  be  more  convenient  than  one  whose 
currency  is  limited  to  a  single  State.  So*  it  would  be  still  more 
convenient  that  there  should  be  a  bank  whose  bills  should  have 
a  currency  all  over  the  world.  But  it  does  not  follow  from  this 
superior  conveniency,  that  there  exists  anywhere  a  power  to 
establish  such  a  bank;  or  that  the  world  may  not  go  on  very 
well  without  it.  *  *  *  The  negative  of  the  President  is  the 
shield  provided  by  the  Constitution  to  protect  against  the  in 
vasions  of  the  legislature:  i.  The  right  of  the  Executive.  2. 
Of  the  Judiciary.  3.  Of  the  States,  and  State  legislatures.  The 
present  is  a  case  of  a  right  remaining  exclusively  with  the 
States,  and  consequently  one  of  those  intended  by  the  Constitu 
tion  to  be  placed  under  its  protection.  (From  an  opinion  sub 
mitted  to  Washington,  1791.  F.  V.,  285-289.) 

BANK,  NATIONAL. — You  will  see  that  we  are  completely  sad 
dled  and  bridled  and  that  the  bank  is  so*  firmly  mounted  on  us 
that  we  must  go  where  they  will  guide.  They  openly  publish  a 
resolution  that  the  national  property,  being  increased  in  value, 
they  must,  by  an  increase  of  a  circulating  medium,  furnish  an 
adequate  representation  of  it  and  by  further  additions  of  active 
capital  promote  the  enterprises  of  our  merchants.  (To  James 
Monroe,  1793.  F.  VII.,  80.) 

BANKS,  NATIONAL. — This  institution  is  one  of  the  most  deadly 
hostilities  existing  against  the  principles  and  form  of  our  Con 
stitution.  The  nation  is  at  this  time  so  strong  and  united  in  its 
sentiments,  that  it  cannot  be  shaken  at  this  moment.  But 
suppose  a  series  of  untoward  events  should  occur,  sufficient  to 
bring  into  doubt  the  competency  of  a  Republican  government 
to  meet  a  crisis  of  great  danger,  or  to  unhinge  the  confidence 
of  the  people  in  the  public  functionaries;  an  institution  like 
this,  penetrating  by  its  branches  every  part  of  the  Union,  acting 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  147 

by  command  and  in  phalanx,  may,  in  a  critical  moment,  upset 
the  government.  I  deem  no  government  safe  which  is  under 
the  vassalage  of  any  self-constituted  authorities,  or  any  other 
authority  than  that  of  the  nation,  or  its  regular  functionaries. 
What  an  obstruction  could  not  this  bank  of  the  United  States 
with  all  its  branch  banks  be  in  time  of  war?  It  might  dictate 
to  us  the  peace  we  should  accept  or  withdraw  its  aid.  Ought 
we  then  to  give  further  growth  to  an  institution  so  powerful,  so 
hostile?  That  it  is  hostile  we  know,  i,  from  a  knowledge  of  the 
principles  of  the  persons  composing  the  body  of  directors  in 
every  bank,  principal  or  branch;  and  those  of  most  of  the 
stockholders:  2,  from  their  opposition  to  the  measures  and 
principles  of  the  government,  and  to  the  election  of  those 
friendly  to  them:  and  3,  from  the  sentiments  of  the  newspapers 
they  support.  Now,  while  we  are  strong,  it  is  the  greatest 
duty  we  owe  to  the  safety  of  our  Constitution,  to  bring  this 
powerful  enemy  to  a  perfect  subordination  under  its  authorities. 
The  first  measure  would  be  to  reduce  them  to  an  equal  footing 
only  with  other  banks,  as  to  the  favors  of  the  government. 
But,  in  order  to  be  able  to  meet  a  general  combination  of  the 
banks  against  us,  in  a  critical  emergency,  could  we  not  make  a 
beginning  towards  an  independent  use  of  our  own  money, 
towards  holding  our  own  bank  in  all  the  deposits  where  it  is 
received,  and  letting  the  treasurer  give  his  draft  or  note,  for 
payment  at  any  particular  place,  which,  in  a  well  conducted 
government,  ought  to  have  as  much  credit  as  any  private  draft, 
or  bank  note,  or  bill,  and  would  give  us  the  same  facilities  which 
we  derive  from  the  banks?  (To  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
1803.  F.  VIIL,  284.) 

BIMETALLISM. — I  concur  with  you  that  the  unit  must  stand  on 
both  metals,  that  the  alloy  should  be  the  same  in  both,  also  in 
the  proportion  you  establish  between  the  value  of  the  two 
metals.  As  to  the  question  on  whom  the  expense  of  coinage 
is  to  fall,  I  have  been  so  little  able  to  make  up  an  opinion  satis 
factory  to  myself  as  to  be  ready  to  concur  in  either  decision. 
With  respect  to  the  dollar,  it  must  be  admitted  by  all  the  world 
that  there  is  great  uncertainty  in  the  meaning  of  the  term,  and 


148  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

therefore  all  the  world  will  have  justified  Congress  for  their 
first  act  of  removing  the  uncertainty  by  declaring  what  they 
understood  by  the  term;  but  the  uncertainty  once  removed 
exists  no  longer,  and  I  very  much  doubt  a  right  to  change  the 
value,  and  especially  to  lessen  it.  It  would  lead  to  so  easy  a 
mode  of  paying  off  the  debts,  besides  the  points  injured  by  the 
reduction  of  the  value  would  have  so  much  matter  to  urge  in 
support  of  the  first  point  of  fixation.  Should  it  be  thought, 
however,  that  Congress  may  reduce  the  value  of  the  dollar,  I 
should  be  for  adopting  for  our  unit,  instead  of  the  dollar,  either 
one  ounce  of  pure  silver,  or  one  ounce  of  standard  silver,  so  as 
to  keep  the  unit  of  money  a  part  of  the  system  of  measures, 
weights  and  coins.  (To  Alexander  Hamilton,  1792.  C.  III., 

330.) 

BIMETALLISM. — See  Money. 

BISHOPS. — A  modern  bishop  to  be  moulded  into  a  primitive 
one  must  be  elected  by  the  people,  undiocesed,  unrevenued, 
unlorded.  (From  Notes  on  Religion,  1776.  F.  II.,  98.) 

BLOCKADE. — Nor  does  this  doctrine  contravene  the  right  of 
preventing  vessels  from-  entering  a  blockaded  port.  This  right 
stands  on  other  ground.  When  the  fleet  of  a  nation  actually 
beleaguers  the  port  of  its  enemy,  no  other  has  a  right  to  enter 
their  line,  any  more  than  their  line  of  battle  in  the  open  sea,  or 
their  line  of  circumvallation,  or  of  encampment,  or  of  battle 
array  on  land.  The  space  included  within  their  lines  in  any  of 
those  cases  is  either  the  property  of  their  enemy,  or  it  is  com 
mon  property  assumed  and  possessed  for  the  moment,  which 
cannot  be  intruded  on,  even  by  a  neutral,  without  committing 
the  very  trespass  we  are  now  considering,  that  of  intruding 
into  the  lawful  possession  of  a  friend.  (To  the  United  States 
Minister  to  France,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  90.) 

BONAPARTE. — Perhaps  it  is  now  to  be  wished  that  Bonaparte 
may  be  spared,  as,  according  to  his  protestations,  he  is  for 
liberty,  equality  and  representative  government,  and  he  is  more 
able  to  keep  the  nation  together  and  ride  out  the  storm  than 
any  other.  Perhaps  it  may  end  in  their  establishing  a  single 
representative  and  that  in  his  person.  I  hope  it  will  not  be  for 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  149 

life  for  fear  of  the  influence  of  the  example  on  our  countrymen. 
(To  John  Breckenridge,  1800.  F.  VII.,  418.) 

BONAPARTE. — Whenever  Bonaparte  has  meddled  we  have  seen 
nothing  but  fragments  of  the  old  Roman  Government  stuck 
into  materials  with  which  they  can  form  no  cohesion;  we  see 
the  bigotry  of  an  Italian  to  the  ancient  splendor  of  his  country, 
but  nothing  which  bespeaks  a  luminous  view  of  the  organiza 
tion  of  rational  government.  (To  Thomas  Mann  Randolph, 
1800.  F.  VII.,422.) 

BONAPARTE. — If  Bonaparte  declares  for  royalty,  either  in  his 
own  person  or  of  Louis  XVIII. ,  he  has  but  a  few  days  to  live. 
In  a  nation  of  so  much  enthusiasm  there  must  be  a  million  of 
Brutuses  who  will  devote  themselves  to  death  to  destroy  him. 
But  without  much  faith  in  Bonaparte's  heart  I  have  much  in  his 
head.  (To  Harry  Innes,  1800.  F.  VII.,  412.) 

BONAPARTE. — I  had  before  heard  of  the  military  ingredients 
which  Bonaparte  had  infused  into  all  the  schools  of  France, 
but  have  never  so  well  understood  them  as  from  your  letter. 
The  penance  he  is  now  doing  for  all  his  atrocities  must  be 
soothing  to  every  virtuous  heart.  It  proves  that  we  have  a 
God  in  heaven.  That  He  is  just  and  not  careless  of  what  passes 
in  the  world.  And  we  cannot  but  wish  to  this  inhuman  wretch 
a  long,  long  life  that  time  as  well  as  intensity  may  fill  up  his 
sufferings  to  the  measure  of  his  enormities.  But  indeed  what 
suffering  can  atone  for  his  crimes  against  the  liberties  and  hap 
piness  of  the  human  race,  for  the  miseries  he  has  already  in 
flicted  on  his  own  generation  and  on  those  yet  to  come  on 
whom  he  has  riveted  the  chains  of  despotism.  (To  George 
Tickner,  1817.  F.  X.,  95.) 

BOUNTIES. — It  is  still  more  settled  that  among  the  purposes 
to  which  the  Constitution  permits  them  to  apply  money,  the 
granting  of  premiums  or  bounties  is  not  enumerated  and  there 
has  never  been  a  single  instance  of  their  doing  it  although  there 
has  been  a  multiplicity  of  applications.  The  Constitution  has 
left  this  encouragement  to  the  separate  States.  I  have  in  two 
or  three  messages  recommended  to  Congress  an  amendment  to 


150  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

the  Constitution  which  should  extend  their  power  to  these 
objects.    (To  Dr.  Mease,  1809.    C.  V.,  412.) 

BRIBERY.: — No  person  shall  be  capable  of  acting  in  any  office, 
civil  or  military,  who  shall  have  given  any  bribe  to  obtain  such 
office,  or  who  shall  not  previously  take  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the 
State.  (From  a  proposed  Constitution  for  Virginia,  1776.  F. 

II,  29.) 

BRITAIN. — Great  Britain  is  the  nation  which  can  do  us  the 
most  harm  of  any  one,  or  all  on  earth;  and  with  her  on  our  side 
we  need  not  fear  the  whole  world.  With  her,  then,  we  should 
most  sedulously  cherish  a  cordial  friendship;  and  nothing  would 
tend  more  to  knit  our  affections  than  to  be  fighting  once  more, 
side  by  side,  in  the  same  cause.  Not  that  I  would  purchase  her 
amity  at  the  price  of  taking  part  in  her  wars.  But  the  war  in 
which  the  present  proposition  might  engage  us,  should  that  be 
its  consequence,  is  not  her  war,  but  ours.  Its  object  is  to  intro 
duce  and  establish  the  American  system,  of  keeping  out  of  our 
land  all  foreign  powers,  of  never  permitting  those  of  Europe  to 
intermeddle  with  the  affairs  of  our  nation.  It  is  to  maintain  our 
own  principle,  not  to  depart  from  it.  And  if,  to  facilitate  this, 
we  can  effect  a  division  in  the  body  of  the  European  powers, 
and  draw  over  to  our  side  its  most  powerful  member,  surely  we 
should  do  it.  (To  James  Monroe,  1823.  C.  VII.,  316.) 

BUBBLES. — Like  a  dropsical  man  calling  for  water,  water,  our 
deluded  citizens  are  clamoring  for  more  banks,  more  banks. 
The  American  mind  is  now  in  that  state  of  fever  which  the 
world  has  so  often  seen  in  the  history  of  other  nations.  We 
are  under  the  bank  bubble,  as  England  was  under  the  South 
Sea  bubble,  France  under  the  Mississippi  bubble,  and  as  every 
nation  is  liable  to  be,  under  whatever  bubble,  design,  or  delusion 
may  puff  up  in  moments  when  off  their  guard.  We  are  now 
taught  to  believe  that  legerdemain  tricks  upon  paper  can  pro 
duce  as  solid  wealth  as  hard  labor  in  the  earth.  It  is  vain  for 
common  sense  to  urge  that  nothing  can  produce  but  nothing, 
that  it  is  an  idle  dream  to  believe  in  a  philosopher's  stone  which 
is  to  turn  everything  into  gold,  and  to  redeem  man  from  the 
original  sentence  of  his  Maker,  "in  the  sweat  of  his  brow  shall 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  151 

he  eat  his  bread."     (To   Colonel   Yancey,  1816.     C.  VI,  515.) 

CALUMNY. — If  we  suffer  ourselves  to  be  frightened  from  our 
post  by  mere  lying,  surely  the  enemy  will  use  that  weapon;  for 
what  one  so  cheap  to  those  of  whose  system  of  politics  morality 
makes  no  part?  The  patriot,  like  the  Christian,  must  learn  to 
bear  revilings  and  persecutions  as  a  part  of  his  duty;  and  in 
proportion  as  the  trial  is  severe,  firmness  under  it  becomes  more 
requisite  and  praiseworthy.  It  requires,  indeed,  self-command. 
But  that  will  be  fortified  in  proportion  as  the  calls  for  its  ex 
ercise  are  repeated.  (To  James  Sullivan,  1805.  F.  VIII. ,  355-) 

CANADA.' — I  know  your  feelings  on  the  present  state  of  the 
world,  and  hope  they  will  be  cheered  by  the  successful  course 
of  our  war  and  the  addition  of  Canada  to  our  Confederacy.  The 
infamous  intrigues  of  Great  Britain  to  destroy  our  government 
(of  which  Henry's  is  but  one  sample)  and  with  the  Indians  to 
tomahawk  our  women  and  children,  prove  that  the  cession  of 
Canada  must  be  a  sine  qua  non  at  a  treaty  of  peace.  (To  Kos- 
ciusko,  1812.  F.  IX.,  363.) 

CANADA. — Could  we  acquire  that  country  (Canada)  we  might 
perhaps  insist  successfully  at  St.  Petersburg  on  retaining  all 
westward  of  the  meridian  of  Lake  Huron  or  Lake  Ontario,  or  of 
Montreal,  according  to  the of  the  place  as  an  indemni 
fication  for  the  past  and  security  of  the  future.  To  cut  them  off 
from  the  Indians  even  west  of  the  Huron  would  be  a  great 
security.  (Monroe  papers,  in  State  Department.  Vol.  13,  No. 
1696.) 

CANONS  OF  CONDUCT. 

1.  Never  put  off  for  to-morrow  what  you  can  do  to-day. 

2.  Never  trouble  another  for  what  you  can  do  yourself. 

3.  Never  spend  your  money  before  you  have  it. 

4.  Never  buy  what  you  do  not  want,  because  it  is  cheap;  it 
will  be  dear  to  you. 

5.  Pride  costs  us  more  than  hunger,  thirst  and  cold. 

6.  We  never  repent  of  having  eaten  too  little. 

7.  Nothing  is  troublesome  that  we  do  willingly. 

8.  How  much  pain  have  cost  us  the  evils  which  have  never 
happened. 


152  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

9.  Take  things  always  by  their  smooth  handle. 

10.  When  angry,  count  ten,  before  you  speak;  if  very  angry, 
an  hundred.     (To  Thomas  Jefferson  Smith,   1825.     C.  VII., 
402.) 

CAPTIVES. — But  is  an  enemy  so  execrable,  that  though  in  cap 
tivity,  his  wishes  and  comforts  are  to  be  disregarded  and  even 
crossed?  I  think  not.  It  is  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  to  miti 
gate  the  horrors  of  war  as  much  as  possible.  The  practice,  there 
fore,  of  modern  nations,  of  treating  captive  enemies  with  polite 
ness  and  generosity,  is  not  only  delightful  in  contemplation, 
but  really  interesting  to  all  the  world,  friends,  foes  and  neutrals. 
(To  Patrick  Henry,  1779.  F.  II.,  176.) 

CHARITY. — We  are  all  doubtless  bound  to  contribute  a  certain 
portion  of  our  income  to  the  support  of  charitable  and  other 
useful  public  institutions.  But  it  is  a  part  of  our  duty  also  to 
apply  our  contributions  in  the  most  effectual  way  we  can  to  se 
cure  this  object.  The  question  then  is  whether  this  will  not 
be  better  done  by  each  of  us  appropriating  our  whole  contribu 
tion  to  the  institutions  within  our  reach,  under  our  own  eye, 
and  over  which  we  can  exercise  some  useful  control?  Or 
would  it  be  better  that  each  should  divide  the  sum  he  can  spare 
among  all  the  institutions  of  his  State  or  the  United  States? 
Reason  and  the  interest  of  these  institutions  themselves,  cer 
tainly  decide  in  favor  of  the  former  practice.  (To  Samuel 
Kercheval,  1810.  C.  V.,  489.) 

CHRISTIANITY. — I  have  a  view  of  Christianity  which  ought  to 
displease  neither  the  rational  Christian  nor  Deists,  and  would 
reconcile  many  to  a  character  they  have  too  hastily  rejected.  I 
do  not  know  that  it  would  reconcile  the  genus  irritabilc  vatum. 
*  *  *  And  as  every  sect  believes  its  own  form  the  true  one, 
every  one  hopes  for  his  own,  but  especially  the  Episcopalians 
and  Congregationalists.  The  returning  good  sense  of  our  coun 
try  threatens  abortion  to  their  hopes  and  they  believe  that 
any  portion  of  power  confided  to  me  will  be  exerted  in  opposi 
tion  to  their  schemes.'  And  they  believe  rightly;  for  I  have 
sworn  upon  the  altar  of  God  eternal  hostility  against  every  form 
of  tyranny  over  the  mind  of  man.  But  this  is  all  they  have  to 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  153 

fear  from  me;  and  enough,  too,  in  their  opinion,  and  this  is 
the  cause  of  their  printing  lying  pamphlets  against  me.  (To 
Benjamin  Rush,  1800.  F.  VIL,  460.) 

CHRISTIANITY. — To  the  corruptions  of  Christianity  I  am  indeed 
opposed;  but  not  to  the  genuine  precepts  of  Jesus  himself.  I  am 
a  Christian  in  the  only  sense  he  wished  any  one  to  be;  sincerely 
attached  to  His  doctrines  in  preference  to  all  others;  ascribing 
to  Himself  every  human  excellence;  and  believing  he  never 
claimed  any  other.  (To  Benjamin  Rush,  1803.  F.  VIII. ,  223.) 
CHRISTIANITY. — But  a  short  time  elapsed  after  the  death  of 
the  Great  Reformer  of  the  Jewish  religion  before  His  principles 
were  departed  from  by  those  who  professed  to  be  his  special 
servants,  and  perverted  into  an  engine  for  enslaving  mankind, 
and  aggrandizing  the  oppressors  in  Church  and  State;  that  the 
purest  system  of  morals  ever  before  preached  to  man  has  been 
adulterated  and  sophisticated  by  artificial  constructions  into  a 
mere  contrivance  to  filch  wealth  and  power  to  themselves;  that 
rational  men  not  being  able  to  swallow  their  impious  heresies, 
in  order  to  force  them  do\vn  their  throats,  they  raise  the  hue 
and  cry  of  infidelity,  which  themselves  are  the  greatest  obstacles 
to  the  advancement  of  the  real  doctrines  of  Jesus,  and  do,  in  fact, 
constitute  the  real  Anti-Christ.  (To  Samuel  Kercheval,  1810. 

c.  v.,  492.) 

CHRISTIANITY. — I  have  made  a  wee-little  book  from  the  same 
materials,  which  I  call  the  Philosophy  of  Jesus;  it  is  a  paradigma 
of  his  doctrines,  made  by  cutting  the  text  out  of  the  book,  and 
arranging  them  on  the  pages  of  a  blank  book,  in  a  certain  order 
of  time  or  subject.  A  more  beautiful  or  precious  morsel  of 
ethics  I  have  never  seen;  it  is  a  document  in  proof  that  I  am 
a  real  Christian,  that  is  to  say,  a  disciple  of  the  doctrines  of 
Jesus,  very  different  from  the  Platonists,  who  call  me  infidel  and 
themselves  Christians  and  preachers  of  the  gospel,  while  they 
draw  all  their  characteristic  dogmas  from  what  its  author  never 
said  nor  saw.  They  have  compounded  from  the  heathen  mys 
teries  a  system  beyond  the  comprehension  of  man,  of  which  the 
Great  Reformer  of  the  vicious  ethics  and  Deism  of  the  Jews, 


154  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

were  He  to  return  on  earth,  would  not  recognize  one  feature. 
(To  Charles  Thompson,  1816.    C.  VI.,  518.) 

CHRISTIANITY. — See  Jesus,  Religion. 

^^ZHURCH  AND  STATE. — Our  sister  States  of  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York  have  long  subsisted  without  any  establishment  at  all. 
The  experiment  was  new  and  doubtful  when  they  made  it.  It 
has  answered  beyond  conception.  They  flourish  infinitely.  Re 
ligion  is  well  supported;  of  various  kinds  indeed,  but  all  good 
enough;  all  sufficient  to  preserve  peace  and  order;  or  if  a  sect 
arises  whose  tenets  would  subvert  morals,  good  sense  has  fair 
play,  and  reason  laughs  it  out  of  doors,  without  suffering  the 
State  to  be  troubled  with  it.  Their  harmony  is  unparalleled, 
and  can  be  ascribed  to  nothing  but  their  unbounded  tolerance, 
because  there  is  no  other  circumstance  in  which  they  differ 
from  every  nation  on  earth.  They  have  made  the  happy  discov 
ery,  that  the  way  to  silence  religious  disputes  is  to  take  no 
notice  of  them.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia/'  1782.  F.  III., 

265.) 

CINCINNATI,  SOCIETY  OF. — A  single  fibre  left  of  this  institution 
will  produce  an  hereditary  aristocracy  which  will  change  the 
form  of  our  government  from  the  best  to  the  worst  in  the  world. 
The  branches  of  this  institution  cover  all  the  States.  The  South 
ern  ones  at  this  time  are  aristocratical  in  their  dispositions  and 
that  that  spirit  should  grow  and  extend  itself  is  within  the 
natural  order  of  things.  I  do  not  flatter  myself  with  the  immor 
tality  of  our  governments;  but  I  shall  think  little  also  of  their 
longevity  unless  this  germ  of  destruction  is  taken  out.  (To 
George  Washington,  written  in  Paris,  1786.  F.  IV.,  329.) 

CITIES. — When  great  evils  happen,  I  am  in  the  habit  of  looking 
out  for  what  good  may  arise  from  them  as  consolations  to  us, 
and  Providence  has  in  fact  so  established  the  order  of  things 
as  that  most  evils  are  the  means  of  producing  some  good.  The 
yellow  fever  will  discourage  the  growth  of  great  cities  in  our 
nation,  and  I  view  great  cities  as  pestilential  to  the  morals,  the 
health,  and  the  liberties  of  man.  True  they  nourish  some  of  the 
elegant  arts,  but  the  useful  ones  can  thrive  elsewhere  and  less 
perfection  in  the  others  with  more  health,  virtue  and  freedom 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  155 

would  be  my  choice.  (To  Benjamin  Rush,  1800.  F.  VII.,  458.) 
CITIZENSHIP. — The  man  who  loves  his  country  on  its  own  ac 
count  and  not  merely  for  its  trappings  of  interest  or  power  can 
never  be  divorced  from  it,  can  never  refuse  to  come  forward 
when  he  finds  that  she  is  engaged  in  dangers  which  he  has  the 
means  of  warding  off.  Make,  then,  an  effort,  my  friend,  to 
renounce  your  domestic  comforts  for  a  few  months  and  reflect 
that  to  be  a  good  husband  and  a  good  father  at  this  moment 
you  must  also  be  a  good  citizen.  (To  Elbridge  Gerry,  1797. 
F.  VII.,  151.) 

CITIZENSHIP. — In  the  constitution  of  Spain,  as  proposed  by  the 
late  Cortes,  there  was  a  principle  entirely  new  to  me,  and  not 
noticed  in  yours,  that  no  person,  born  after  that  day,  should  ever 
acquire  the  rights  of  citizenship  until  he  could  read  and  write. 
It  is  impossible  sufficiently  to -estimate  the  wisdom  of  this  pro 
vision.  Of  all  those  which  have  been  thought  of  for  securing 
fidelity  in  the  administration  of  the  government,  constant  ral- 
liance  to  the  principles  of  the  constitution,  and  progressive 
amendments  with  the  progressive  advances  of  the  human  mind, 
or  changes  in  human  affairs,  it  is  the  most  effectual.  Enlighten 
the  people  generally,  and  tyranny  and  oppression  of  body  and 
mind  will  vanish  like  evil  spirits  at  the  dawn  of  day.  Although 
1  do  not,  with  some  enthusiasts,  believe  that  the  human  con 
dition  will  ever  advance  to  such  a  state  of  perfection  as  that 
there  shall  no  longer  be  pain  or  vice  in  the  world,  yet  I  believe 
it  susceptible  of  much  improvement,  and  most  of  all  in  matters 
of  government  and  religion ;  and  that  the  diffusion  of  knowledge 
among  the  people  is  to  be  the  instrument  by  which  it  is  to  be 
effected.  (To  Dupont  de  Nemours,  1816.  C.  VI.,  592.) 

CIVIL  POWER. — To  render  these  proceedings  still  more  criminal 
against  our  laws,  instead  of  subjecting  the  military  to  the  civil 
powers,  his  majesty  has  expressly  made  the  civil  subordinate  to 
the  military.     But  can  his  majesty  put  down  all  law  under  his* 
feet?     Can  he  erect  a  power  superior  to  that  which  erected 
himself?     He  has  done  it  indeed  by  force,  but  let  him  remem-;-; 
ber  that  force  cannot  give  right.     (From  "A  Summary  View/JJ 
1774.    F.  I.,  4450 


156  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

""CIVIL  RIGHTS. — Our  civil  rights  have  no  dependence  on  our 
religious  opinions,  any  more  than  on  our  opinions  in  physics  or 
geometry;  and,  therefore,  the  proscribing  any  citizen  as  un 
worthy  the  public  confidence  by  laying  upon  him  an  incapacity 
of  being  called  to  offices  of  trust  or  emolument,  unless  he  pro 
fess  or  renounce  this  or  that  religious  opinion,  is  depriving  him 
judicially  of  those  privileges  and  advantages  to  which,  in 
common  with  his  fellow-citizens  he  has  a  natural  right.  (From  > 
a  bill  for  establishing  religious  freedom,  1779.  F.  II.,  238.) 

CIVIL  SERVICE. — Your  recommendation  of  Mr.  Reynolds 
would  have  given  me  all  the  disposition  possible  to  have  found 
a  place  for  him.  But  in  the  office  to  which  I  have  been  called,  all 
was  full,  and  I  could  not  in  any  case  think  it  just  to  turn  out  those 
in  possession  who  have  behaved  well,  merely  to  put  others  in. 
(To  Francis  Willis,  1790.  F.  V.,  157.) 

CIVIL  SERVICE. — Out  of  about  six  hundred  offices  named  by 
the  President  there  were  six  Republicans  only  when  I  came  into 
office  and  these  were  chiefly  half-breeds.  Out  of  upwards  of 
three  hundred  holding  office  during  pleasure,  I  removed  about 
fifteen  or  those  who  had  signalized  themselves  by  their  own  in 
tolerance  in  office,  because  the  public  voice  called  for  it  imper 
iously,  and  it  was  just  that  the  Republicans  should  at  length 
have  some  participation  in  the  government.  There  never  was 
another  removal  but  for  such  delinquencies  as  removed  the 
Republicans  equally.  In  the  horrid  drudgery  I  always  felt  my 
self  as  a  public  executioner,  an  office  which  no  one  who  knows 
me,  I  hope,  supposes  very  grateful  to  my  feelings.  It  was 
considerably  alleviated,  however,  by  the  industry  of  their  news 
papers  in  endeavoring  to  excite  resentment  enough  to  enable 
me  to  meet  the  operation.  (To  William  Short,  1807.  F.  IX., 

51.) 

CIVIL  SERVICE. — See  Offices,  Rotation,  Nepotism. 

THE  CLASSICS. — You  ask  my  opinion  on  the  extent  to  which 
classical  learning  should  be  carried  in  our  country.  A  sickly 
condition  permits  me  to  think,  and  a  rheumatic  hand  to  write 
too  briefly  on  this  litigated  question.  The  utilities  we  derive 
from  the  remains  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages  are,  first, 


OF    THOMAS   JEFFERSON  157 

as  models  of  pure  taste  in  writing.  To  these  we  are  certainly 
indebted  for  the  national  and  chaste  style  of  modern  composi 
tion  which  so  much  distinguishes  the  nations  to  whom  these 
languages  are  familiar.  Without  these  models  we  should  prob 
ably  have  continued  the  inflated  style  of  our  Northern  ances 
tors,  or  the  hyperbolical  and  vague  one  of  the  East.  2d. 
Among  the  values  of  classical  learning,  I  estimate  the  luxury  of 
reading  the  Greek  and  Roman  authors  in  all  the  beauties  of  their 
originals.  And  why  should  not  this  innocent  and  elegant  lux 
ury  take  its  pre-eminent  stand  ahead  of  all  those  addressed 
merely  to  the  senses?  I  think  myself  more  indebted  to  my 
father  for  this  than  for  all  the  other  luxuries  his  cares  and 
affections  have  placed  within  my  reach;  and  more  now  than 
when  younger,  and  more  susceptible  of  delights  from  other 
sources.  When  the  decays  of  age  have  enfeebled  the  useful 
energies  of  the  mind,  the  classic  pages  fill  up  the  vacuum  of 
ennui  and  become  sweet  composers  to  that  rest  of  the  grave 
into  which  wre  are  all  sooner  or  later  to  descend.  3d.  A  third 
value  is  in  the  stores  of  real  science  deposited,  and  trans 
mitted  us  in  these  languages,  to  wit:  in  history,  ethics,  arith 
metic,  geometry,  astronomy,  natural  history,  etc. 

But  to  whom  are  these  things  useful?  Certainly  not  to  all 
men.  There  are  conditions  of  life  to  which  they  must  be  for 
ever  estranged,  and  there  are  epochs  of  life  too,  after  which  the 
endeavor  to  attain  them  would  be  a  great  misemployment  of 
time.  Their  acquisition  should  be  the  occupation  of  our  early 
years  only,  when  the  memory  is  susceptible  of  deep  and  lasting 
impressions,  and  reason  and  judgment  not  yet  strong  enough 
for  abstract  speculations.  (To  John  Brazier,  1819.  C.  VII. , 

131.) 

CLERGY. — I  observe  in  the  same  scheme  of  a  constitution  an 
abridgment  of  the  right  of  being  elected,  which  after  seven 
teen  years  more  of  experience  and  reflection  I  do  not  approve. 
It  is  incapacitation  of  a  clergyman  from  being  elected.  The 
clergy  by  getting  themselves  established  by  law  and  ingrafted 
into  the  machine  of  government  have  been  a  very  formidable 
engine  against  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  man.  They 


158  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

are  still  so  in  many  countries  and  even  in  some  of  these  United 
States.  Even  in  1783,  we  doubted  the  stability  of  our  recent 
measures  for  reducing  them  to  the  footing  of  other  useful  call 
ings.  It  now  appears  that  our  means  were  effectual.  The 
clergy  here  seem  to  have  relinquished  all  pretensions  to  privilege 
and  to  stand  on  a  footing  with  lawyers,  physicians,  etc.  They 
ought,  therefore,  to  possess  the  same  rights.  (To  Jeremiah 
Moore,  1800.  F.  VII.,  454.) 

CLERGY. — The  Palladium  is  understood  to  be  the  clerical  pa 
per,  and  from  the  clergy  I  expect  no  mercy.  They  crucified  their 
Saviour,  who  preached  that  their  kingdom  was  not  of  this 
world;  and  all  who  practice  on  that  precept  must  expect  the 
extreme  of  their  wrath.  The  laws  of  the  present  day  withhold 
their  hands  from  blood;  but  lies  and  slander  still  remain  to 
them.  (To  Levi  Lincoln,  1801.  F.  VII.,  84.) 

COLLEGES. — You  have  now  an  happy  opportunity  of  carrying 
this  intermediate  establishment  into  execution  without  laying 
a  cent  of  tax  on  the  people,  or  taking  one  from  the  treasury. 
Divide  the  State  into  college  districts  of  about  eighty  miles 
square  each.  There  would  be  about  eight  such  districts  below 
the  Alleghany,  and  two  beyond  it,  which  would  be  necessarily 
of  larger  extent  because  of  the  sparseness  of  their  population. 
The  only  advance  these  colleges  would  call  for,  would  be  for 
a  dwelling  house  for  the  teacher,  of  about  one  thousand  two 
hundred  dollars  cost,  and  a  boarding  house  with  four  or  five  bed 
rooms,  and  a  school  room  for  probably  about  twenty  or  thirty 
boys.  The  whole  should  cost  not  more  than  five  thousand 
dollars,  but  the  funds  of  William  and  Mary  would  enable  you 
to  give  them  ten  thousand  dollars  each.  The  district  might  be 
so  laid  off  that  the  principal  towns  and  the  academies  now  ex 
isting  might  form  convenient  sites  for  their  colleges;  as,  for 
example,  Williamsburg,  Richmond,  Fredericksburg,  Hamp- 
den  Sydney,  Lynchburg  or  Lexington,  Staunton,  Winchester, 
etc.  Thus,  of  William  and  Mary,  you  will  make  ten  colleges, 
each  as  useful  as  she  ever  was,  leaving  one  in  Williamsburg 
by  itself,  placing  as  good  a  one  within  a  day's  ride  of  every 
man  in  the  State  and  get  our  whole  scheme  of  education  com- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  159 

pletely  established.     (To —   1824.     C.  VIL,  385.) 

COLONIES. — Ancient  nations  considered  Colonies  principally 
as  receptacles  for  a  too  numerous  population,  and  as  natural  and 
useful  allies  in  times  of  war;  but  modern  nations,  viewing-  com 
merce  as  an  object  of  first  importance,  value  Colonies  chiefly 
as  instruments  for  the  increase  of  that.  (To  the  Swedish  Em- 
bassador  at  Paris,  1786.  F.  IV.,  238.) 

COMMERCE. — Our  interest  will  be  to  throw  open  the  doors  of 
commerce,  and  to  knock  off  all  its  shackles,  giving  perfect  free 
dom  to  all  persons  for  the  vent  of  whatever  they  may  choose 
to  bring  into  our  ports  and  asking  the  same  in  theirs.  (From 
"Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  279.) 

COMMERCE. — All  the  world  is  becoming  commercial.  Were 
it  practicable  to  keep  our  new  empire  separated  from  them 
we  might  indulge  ourselves  in  speculating  whether  commerce 
contributes  to  the  happiness  of  mankind.  But  we  cannot  sepa 
rate  ourselves  from  them.  Our  citizens  have  had  too  full  a  taste 
of  the  comforts  furnished  by  the  arts  and  manufactures  to  be 
debarred  the  use  of  them.  We  must  then  in  our  defense  en 
deavor  to  share  as  large  a  portion  as  we  can  of  this  modern 
source  of  wealth  and  power.  (To  George  Washington,  1784. 
F.  III.,  422.) 

COMMERCE. — With  England  nothing  will  produce  a  treaty  but 
an  enforcement  of  the  resolutions  of  Congress  proposing  that 
there  should  be  no  trade  where  there  is  no  treaty.  The  infatu 
ation  of  that  nation  seems  really  preternatural.  If  anything 
will  open  their  eyes  it  will  be  the  application  to  the  avarice  of 
the  merchants  who  are  the  very  people  who  have  opposed  the 
treaty  first  meditated,  and  who  have  excited  the  spirit  of  hostil 
ity  at  present  prevailing  against  us.  Deaf  to  every  principle  of 
common  sense,  insensible  to  the  feelings  of  men,  they  firmly 
believe  they  shall  be  permitted  by  us  to  keep  all  the  carrying 
trade  and  that  we  shall  attempt  no  act  of  retaliation  because 
they  are  pleased  to  think  it  our  interest  not  to  do  so.  (Written 
from  Paris  to  James  Madison,  1784.  F.  VI.,  7.) 

COMMERCE. — Congress,  by  the  Confederation,  have  no  original 
and  inherent  power  over  the  commerce  of  the  States.  But  by 


l6o  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

the  9th  article  they  are  authorized  to  enter  into  treaties  of 
commerce.  The  moment  these  treaties  are  concluded  the  juris 
diction  of  Congress  over  the  commerce  springs  into  existence, 
and  that  of  the  particular  State  is  superseded  so  far  as  the 
articles  of  the  treaty  may  have  taken  up  the  subject.  *  *  * 
You  see  my  primary  object  in  the  formation  of  treaties  is  to 
take  the  commerce  of  the  States  out  of  the  hands  of  the  States, 
and  to  place  it  under  the  superintendence  of  Congress  so  far 
as  the  imperfect  provisions  of  our  Constitution  will  admit,  and 
until  the  States  shall  by  new  compact  make  them  more  per 
fect.  (From  a  letter  to  James  Monroe  from  Paris,  1785.  F. 
IV.,  56.) 

COMMERCE. — I  have  heard  with  great  pleasure  that  our  as 
sembly  have  come  to  the  resolution  of  giving  the  regulation  of 
commerce  to  the  federal  head.  I  will  venture  to  assert  that 
there  is  not  one  of  its  opposers  who,  placed  on  this  ground, 
would  not  see  the  wisdom  of  this  measure.  The  politics  of 
Europe  render  it  indispensably  necessary  that  with  respect  to 
everything  external  we  be  one  nation  only,  firmly  hooped  to 
gether.  Interior  Government  is  what  each  State  should  keep  to 
itself.  If  it  could  be  seen  in  Europe  that  all  our  States  could  be 
brought  to  concur  in  what  the  Virginia  assembly  has  done,  it 
would  produce  a  total  revolution  in  their  opinion  of  us,  and 
respect  for  us.  And  it  should  ever  be  held  in  mind  that  insult 
and  war  are  the  consequences  of  a  want  of  respectability  in  the 
national  character.  As  long  as  the  States  exercise  separately 
those  acts  of  power  which  respect  foreign  nations,  so  long  will 
there  continue  to  be  irregularities  committed  by  some  one  or 
other  of  them,  which  will  constantly  keep  us  on  an  ill  footing 
with  foreign  nations.  (Written  from  Paris  to  James  Madison, 
1786.  F.  IV.,  192.) 

COMMERCE. — I  have  laid  my  shoulder  to  the  opening  of  the 
markets  of  this  country  to  our  produce,  and  rendering  its 
transportation  a  nursery  for  our  seamen.  A  maritime  force  is 
the  only  one  by  which  we  can  act  on  Europe.  Our  navigation 
law  (if  it  be  wise  to  have  any)  should  be  the  reverse  of  that  of 
England.  Instead  of  confining  importations  to  home  bottoms 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  l6l 

or  those  of  the  producing  nations,  I  think  we  should  confine 
exportations  to  home  bottoms  or  to  those  nations  having 
treaties  with  us.  Our  exportations  are  heavy,  and  would  nourish 
a  great  force  of  our  o\vn,  or  be  a  tempting  price  to  the  nation 
to  whom  we  should  offer  a  participation  of  it  in  exchange  for 
free  access  to  all  their  possessions.  (To  George  Washington, 
written  in  Paris,  1788.  F.  V.,  58.) 

COMMERCE. — Instead  of  embarrassing  commerce  under  piles 
of  regulating  laws,  duties  and  prohibitions,  could  it  be  relieved 
of  all  its  shackles  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  could  every  country 
be  employed  in  producing  that  which  nature  has  best  fitted  it 
to  produce,  and  each  be  free  to  exchange  with  others  mutual 
surpluses  for  mutual  wants,  the  greatest  mass  possible  would 
then  be  produced  of  those  things  which  contribute  to  human 
life  and  human  happiness;  the  numbers  of  mankind  would  be 
increased  and  their  condition  bettered. 

Would  even  a  single  nation  begin  with  the  United  States  this 
system  of  free  commerce,  it  would  be  advisable  to  begin  it  with 
that  nation,  since  it  is  one  by  one  only  that  it  can  extend  to 
all.  Where  the  circumstances  of  either  party  render  it  ex 
pedient  to  levy  a  revenue,  by  way  of  import,  on  commerce,  its 
freedom  might  be  modified  in  that  particular  by  mutual  and 
equivalent  measures,  preserving  it  entire  in  all  others.  (From 
a  Report  on  the  Commerce  of  the  United  States,  1793.  F. 
VI.,  480.) 

COMMERCE. — Where  a  nation  imposes  high  duties  on  our 
productions  or  prohibits  them  altogether,  it  may  be  proper  for 
us  to  do  the  same  by  theirs;  first  burdening  or  excluding  those 
productions  which  they  bring  here  in  competition  with  our  own 
of  the  same  kind;  selecting  next  such  manufactures  as  we  take 
from  them  in  greatest  quantity,  and  which,  at  the  same  time 
we  could  the  soonest  furnish  to  ourselves  or  obtain  from  other 
countries;  imposing  on  them  duties  lighter  at  first,  but  heavier 
and  heavier  afterwards,  as  other  channels  of  supply  open.  Such 
duties  having  the  effect  of  indirect  encouragement  to  domestic 
manufactures  of  the  same  kind,  may  induce  the  manufacturer 
to  come  himself  into  these  States,  where  cheaper  subsistence, 


162  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

equal  laws,  and  a  vent  of  his  wares  free  of  duty  may  ensure  him 
the  highest  profits  from  his  skill  and  industry.  And  here  it 
would  be  in  the  power  of  the  State  Governments  to  co-operate 
essentially  by  opening  the  resources  of  encouragement  which 
are  under  their  control,  extending  them  liberally  to  artists  in 
those  particular  branches  of  manufacture  for  which  their  soil, 
climate,  population,  and  other  circumstances  have  matured 
them,  and  fostering  the  precious  efforts  and  progress  of  house 
hold  manufacture  by  some  patronage  suited  to  the  nature  of 
its  objects,  guided  by  the  local  informations  they  possess,  and 
guarded  against  abuse  by  their  presence  and  attentions.  The 
oppressions  on  our  agriculture  in  foreign  ports  would  thus  be 
made  the  occasion  of  relieving  it  from  a  dependence  on  the 
councils  and  conduct  of  others,  and  of  promoting  arts,  manufac 
tures  and  population  at  home.  (From  a  Report  on  the  Com 
merce  of  the  United  States,  1793.  F.  VI. ,  481.) 

COMMERCE. — What  a  glorious  exchange  it  would  be  could  we 
persuade  our  navigating  fellow  citizens  to  embark  their  cap 
ital  in  the  internal  commerce  of  our  country,  excluding  foreign 
ers  from  that  and  let  them  take  the  carrying  trade  in  exchange; 
abolish  the  diplomatic  establishments  and  never  suffer  an  armed 
vessel  of  any  nation  to  enter  our  ports.  (To  Edmund  Pendle- 
ton,  1799.  F.  VII.,  376.) 

COMMERCE. — I  hope  with  you  that  the  policy  of  our  country 
will  settle  down  with  as  much  navigation  and  commerce  only 
as  our  own  exchanges  will  require,  and  that  the  disadvantage 
will  be  seen  of  our  undertaking  to  carry  on  that  of  other  nations. 
This,  indeed,  may  bring  gain  to  a  few  individuals,  and  enable 
them  to  call  off  from  our  farms  more  laborers  to  be  converted 
into  lackeys  and  grooms  for  them,  but  it  will  bring  nothing  to 
our  country  but  wars,  debt  and  dilapidation.  (To  J.  B.  Stuart, 
1817.  C.  VII.,  64.) 

COMMON  LAW. — Of  all  the  doctrines  which  have  ever  been  \ 
broached  by  the  Federal  Government  the  novel  one  of  the  com 
mon  law  being  in  force  and  cognizable  as  an  existing  law  in  their 
courts  is  to  me  the  most  formidable.    All  their  other  assump 
tions  of  un-given  powers  have  been  in  the  detail.     The  bank  ' 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  163 

law,  the  treaty  doctrine,  the  sedition  act,  alien  act  *  *  * 
have  been  solitary,  unconsequential,  timid  things,  in  compari 
son  with  the  audacious,  barefaced  and  sweeping  pretension 
to  a  system  of  law  for  the  United  States  without  the  adoption 
of  their  legislature,  and  so  infinitely  beyond  their  power  to 
adopt.  If  this  assumption  be  yielded  to,  the  State  courts  may 
be  shut  up,  as  there  will  then  be  nothing  to  hinder  citizens  of 
the  same  State  suing  each  other  in  the  Federal  courts  in  every 
case,  as  on  a  bond  for  instance,  because  the  common  law  obliges  r 
payment  of  it,  and  the  common  law  they  say  is  their  law.  (To  V 
Edmund  Randolph,  1799.  F.  VII. ,  384.) 

COMPROMISE. — A  government  held  together  by  the  bands  of 
reason  only,  requires  much  compromise  of  opinion;  that  things 
even  salutary  should  not  be  crammed  down  the  throats  of 
dissenting  brethren,  especially  when  they  may  be  put  into  a  form 
to  be  willingly  swallowed,  and  that  a  great  deal  of  indulgence 
is  necessary  to  strengthen  habits  of  harmony  and  fraternity. 
(To  Edward  Livingston,  1824.  C.  VII.,  343.) 

CONFEDERACIES. — Whether  we  remain  in  one  Confederacy,  or 
form  into  Atlantic  and  Mississippi  Confederacies,  I  believe  not 
very  important  to  the  happiness  of  either  part.  Those  of  the 
Western  Confederacy  will  be  as  much  children  and  descendants 
as  those  of  the  Eastern,  and  I  feel  myself  as  much  identified 
with  that  country,  in  future  time,  as  with  this;  and  did  I  now 
foresee  a  separation  at  some  future  day,  yet  I  should  feel  the 
duty  and  the  desire  to  promote  the  Western  interests  as  zeal 
ously  as  the  Eastern,  doing  all  the  good  for  both  portions  of 
our  future  family  which  should  fall  within  my  power.  (To 
Joseph  Priestly,  1804.  F.  VIII.,  295.) 

CONFEDERATION. — The  power  of  declaring  war  and  concluding 
peace,  of  contracting  alliances,  of  issuing  letters  of  marque  and 
reprisal,  of  raising  and  introducing  armed  forces,  of  building 
armed  vessels,  forts  or  strongholds,  of  coining  money  or  regu 
lating  its  value,  of  regulating  weights  and  measures,  we  leave  to 
be  exercised  under  the  authority  of  the  Confederation;  but  in 
all  cases  respecting  them  which  are  out  of  the  said  Confedera 
tion,  they  shall  be  exercised  by  the  Governor  under  the  regu- 


164  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

lation  of  such  laws  as  the  legislature  may  think  it  expedient 
to  pass.  (From  a  proposed  Constitution  for  Virginia,  1783. 
F  III.,  326.) 

"rf-r  CONFEDERATION. — It  has  often  been  said  that  the  decisions  of 
Congress  are  impotent  because  the  Confederation  provides  no 
compulsory  power.  But  when  two*  or  more  nations  enter  into 
compact  it  is  not  usual  for  them  to  say  what  shall  be  done 
to  the  party  who  infringes  it.  Decency  forbids  this,  and  it  is  un 
necessary  as  indecent,  because  the  right  of  compulsion  natur 
ally  results  to  the  party  injured  by  the  breach.  When  any  one 
State  in  the  American  Union  refuses  obedience  to  the  Confeder 
ation  by  which  they  have  bound  themselves,  the  rest  have  a 
natural  right  to  compel  them  to  obedience.  Congress  would 
probably  exercise  long  patience  before  they  would  recur  to 
force;  but  if  the  case  ultimately  required  it,  they  would  use 
that  recurrence.  (From  Answers  propounded  by  M.  de  Meus- 
nier,  1786.  F.  IV.,  140.) 

CONFEDERATION. — The  Confederation  is  a  wonderfully  perfect 

instrument  considering  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was 

formed.    There  are,  however,  some  alterations  which  experience 

proves  to  be  wanting.    (From  answers  to  questions  propounded 

^M.  de  Meusnier,  1786.     F.  IV.,  141.) 

^CONFEDERATION. — It  has  been  so  often  said  as  to  be  generally 
believed,  that  Congress  have  no  power  by  the  Confederation  to 
enforce  anything,  for  example,  contributions  of  money.  It 
was  not  necessary  to  give  them  that  power  expressly;  they 
have  it  by  the  law  of  nature.  When  two  parties  make  a  compact, 

AJ there  results  to  each  a  power  of  compelling  the  other  to  execute 


it.  Compulsion  was  never  so  easy  as  in  our  case,  where  a  single 
frigate  would  soon  levy  on  the  commerce  of  any  State  the  de 
ficiency  of  its  contributions;  nor  more  safe  than  in  the  hands  of 
Congress  which  has  always  shown  that  it  would  wait,  as  it 
ought  to  do,  to  the  last  extremities  before  it  would  execute 
any  of  its  powers  which  are  disagreeable.  (To  Edward  Carring- 
ton,  written  in  Paris,  1786.  F.  IV.,  424.) 

CONFIDENCE. — It  would  be  a  dangerous  delusion  were  a  con 
fidence  in  the  men  of  our  choice  to  silence  our  fears  for  the  safety 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  165 

of  our  rights;  confidence  is  everywhere  the  parent  of  despotism 
• — free  Government  is  founded  on  jealousy,  and  not  in  confi 
dence;  it  is  jealousy  and  not  confidence  which  prescribes  limited 
Constitutions  to  bind  down  those  whom  we  are  obliged  to 
trust  with  power;  our  Constitution  has  accordingly  fixed  the 
limits  to  which,  and  no  further,  our  confidence  may  go;  and 
let  the  honest  advocate  of  confidence  read  the  Alien  and  Sedi 
tion  acts  and  say  if  the  Constitution  has  not  been  wise  in  fixing 
limits  to  the  government  it  created,  and  whether  we  should  be 
wise  in  destroying  those  limits.  In  questions  of  power,  then, 
let  no  more  be  heard  of  confidence  in  man,  but  bind  him  down 
from  mischief  by  the  chains  of  the  Constitution.  (From  "Ken 
tucky  Resolutions,"  1798.  F.  VII.,  304.) 

CONGRESS. — Resolved  unanimously  that  this  Assembly  of  Vir 
ginia  will  not  listen  to  any  proposition  or  suffer  any  nego 
tiation  inconsistent  with  their  national  faith  and  Federal  union, 
and  that  a  proposition  from  the  enemy  for  treating  with  any 
Assembly  or  body  of  men  in  America  other  than  the  Congress 
of  these  United  States  is  insidious  and  inadmissible.  (Resolu 
tions  concerning  peace  with  England,  1778.  F.  II. ,  160.) 

CONGRESS. — The  negative  proposed  to  be  given  Congress  on 
all  the  acts  of  the  several  legislatures  is  now  for  the  first  time 
suggested  to  my  mind.  Prima  facie  I  do  not  like  it.  It  fails  in 
an  essential  character  that  the  hole  and  the  patch  should  be 
commensurate.  But  this  proposes  to  mend  a  small  hole  by 
covering  the  whole  garment.  Not  more  than  one  out  of  one 
hundred  State  acts  concern  the  Confederacy.  This  proposition, 
then,  in  order  to  give  them  one  degree  of  power  which  they 
ought  to  have,  gives  them  99  more  which  they  ought  not  to 
have,  upon  a  presumption  that  they  will  not  exercise  the  99* 
*  .  *  *  Would  not  an  appeal  from  the  State  judicatures  to  a 
Federal  court  in  all  cases  where  the  act  of  Confederation  con 
trolled  the  question  be  as  effectual  a  remedy  and  exactly  com 
mensurate  to  the  defect?  A  British  creditor,  for  example,  sues 
for  his  debt  in  Virginia;  the  defendant  pleads  an  act  of  the  State 
excluding  him  from  their  courts;  the  plaintiff  urges  the  Con 
federation  and  the  treaty  made  under  that,  as  controlling  the 


166  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

State  law;  the  judges  are  weak  enough  to  decide  according  to 
the  views  of  their  legislature.  An  appeal  to  a  Federal  court  sets 
all  to  rights.  It  will  be  said  that  this  court  may  encroach  on 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  courts.  It  may.  But  there  will 
be  a  power,  towit,  Congress,  to  watch  and  restrain  them.  But 
place  the  same  authority  in  Congress  itself,  and  there  will  be 
no  power  above  them  to  perform  the  same  office.  They  will 
restrain  within  due  bounds  a  jurisdiction  exercised  by  others 
more  rigorously  than  if  exercised  by  themselves.  (To  James 
Madison,  written  from  Paris,  1787.  F.  IV.,  391.) 
—  CONQUEST. — It  is  an  established  principle  that  conquest  givesx 
inchoate  right,  which  does  not  become  perfect  till  confirmed  by 
the  treaty  of  peace,  and  by  a  renunciation  or  abandonment  by 
the  former  proprietor.  (From1  a  Report  on  the  Negotiation 
with  Spain,  1792.  F.  V.,  463.) 

CONSOLIDATION. — This  will  contain  matters  not  intended  for 
the  public  eye.  I  see  as  you  do,  and  with  the  deepest  affliction, 
the  rapid  strides  with  which  the  Federal  branch  of  our  govern 
ment  is  advancing  toward  the  usurpation  of  all  the  rights  reserved 
to  the  States,  and  the  consolidation  in  itself  of  all  powers  for 
eign  and  domestic;  and  that  too  by  constructions  which,  if 
legitimate,  have  no  limits  to  their  power.  Take  together  the 
decisions  of  the  Federal  court,  the  decision  of  the  President 
and  the  misconstructions  of  the  Constitutional  compact  acted 
on  by  the  legislators  of  the  Federal  branch,  and  it  is  but  too 
evident  that  the  three  ruling  branches  of  that  department  are  in 
combination  to  strip  their  colleagues,  the  State  authorities,  of 
the  powers  reserved  by  them  and  to  exercise  themselves  all  func 
tions,  foreign  and  domestic.  Under  the  power  to  regulate 
commerce  they  assume  indefinitely  that  also  over  agriculture 
and  manufacture  and  call  it  regulation  to  take  the  earnings  of 
one  of  these  branches  of  industry,  and  that  too  the  most  de 
pressed,  and  put  them  into  the  pockets  of  the  other,  the  most 
flourishing  of  all.  Under  the  authority  to  establish  post-roads 
they  claim  that  of  cutting  down  mountains  for  the  construction 
of  roads,  of  digging  canals,  and  aided  by  a  little  sophistry  on 
the  words  "general  welfare;"  a  right  to  do  not  only  the  acts 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  167 

to  effect  that  which  are  specifically  enumerated  and  permitted, 
but  whatever  they  shall  think  or  pretend  will  be  for  the  general 
welfare.  And  what  is  our  resource  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Constitution?  Reason  and  argument?  You  might  as  well  rea 
son  and  argue  with  the  marble  columns  encircling  them.  They 
are  joined  in  the  combination,  some  from  incorrect  views  of 
government,  some  from  corrupt  ones,  sufficient  voting  together 
to  out-number  the  sound  parts,  and  with  majorities  of  only  one, 
two  or  three  bold  enough  to  go  forward  in  defiance.  Are  we 
then  to  stand  to  our  arms  with  the  hot-headed  Georgian?  No. 
That  must  be  the  last  resource,  not  to  be  thought  of  until  much 
longer  and  greater  sufferings.  If  every  infraction  of  a  compact 
of  so  many  parties  is  to  be  resisted  at  once  as  a  dissolution  of 
it  none  can  ever  be  formed  which  would  last  one  year.  We  must 
have  patience  and  longer  endurance,  then,  with  our  brethren 
while  under  delusion;  give  them  time  for  reflection  and  exper 
ience  of  consequences;  keep  ourselves  in  a  situation  to  profit 
by  the  chapter  of  accidents;  and  separate  from  our  companies 
only  when  the  sole  alternatives  left  are  the  dissolution  of  our 
union  with  them,  or  submission  to  a  government  without  limi 
tation  of  powers.  Between  these  two  evils,  when  we  must  take 
a  choice,  there  can  be  no  hesitation.  But  in  the  meanwhile, 
the  States  should  be  watchful  to  note  every  material  usurpa 
tion  on  their  rights,  to  denounce  them  as  they  occur  in  the  most 
peremptory  terms;  to  protest  against  them  as  wrongs  to  which 
our  present  submission  shall  be  considered  not  as  acknowledg 
ments  or  precedents  of  right  but  as  a  temporary  yielding  to  the 
lesser  evil  until  their  accumulation  shall  overweigh  that  of 
separation.  (To  William  Giles,  1825.  C.  VII.,  426.) 
— *THE  CONSTITUTION. — I  answer  that  constitutio,  constitutum, 
staturn,  lex  are  convertible  terms.  The  term  constitution  has 
many  significations  in  physics  and  politics;  but  in  jurisprudence, 
whenever  it  is  applied  to  any  act  of  the  legislature,  it  invariably, 
means  a  statute,  law,  or  ordinance.  *  *  *  To  get  rid  of 
the  magic  supposed  to  be  in  the  word  constitution,  let  us  trans 
late  it  into  its  definition  as  given  by  those  who  think  it  above 
the  power  of  the  law ;  and  let  us  suppose  the  convention,  [of  Vir- 


1 68  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

ginia]  instead  of  saying,  "We,  the  ordinary  Legislature,  estab 
lish  a  Constitution,"  had  said,  "We,  the  ordinary  Legislature,, 
establish  an  act  above  the  power  of  the  ordinary  Legislature." : 
(From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.    F.  III.,  228.) 

THE  CONSTITUTION. — I  find  by  the  public  papers  that  your 
Commercial  Convention  failed  in  point  of  representation.  If  it 
should  produce  a  full  meeting  in  May,  1787,  and  a  broader 
reformation  it  will  still  be  well.  To  make  us  one  nation  as  to 
foreign  concerns,  and  keep  us  distinct  in  domestic  ones,  gives 
the  outlines  of  the  proper  division  of  power  between  the  general 
and  the  particular  governments.  But  to  enable  the  Federal 
head  to  exercise  the  power  given  it,  to  best  advantage,  it 
should  be  organized,  as  the  particular  ones  are  into  Legislative, 
Executive  and  Judiciary.  When  last  with  Congress  I  often 
proposed  to  members  to  do  this  by  making  of  the  committee 
of  the  States,  an  executive  committee  during  its  sessions  to 
appoint  a  committee  to  receive  and  despatch  all  executive  busi 
ness,  so  that  Congress  itself  should  meddle  only  with  what 
should  be  legislative.  But  I  question  if  any  Congress  (much 
less  all  successively)  can  have  self-denial  enough  to  go  through 
this  distribution.  The  distribution  should  be  imposed  on  them. 
(To  James  Madison,  written  in  Paris,  1786.  F.  IV.,  333.) 
/THE  CONSTITUTION.— I  like  the  power  given  to  the  legislature 
to  levy  taxes,  and  for  that  reason  solely  approve  of  the  greater 
House  being  chosen  by  the  people  directly.  For  though  I  think 
a  House  chosen  by  them  will  be  very  illy  qualified  to  legislate 
for  the  Union,  for  foreign  nations,  etc.,  yet  this  evil  does  not 
weigh  against  the  good  of  preserving  inviolate  the  fundamental 
principle  that  the  people  are  not  to  be  taxed  but  by  representa 
tives  chosen  immediately  by  themselves.  I  am  captivated  by  - 
the  compromise  of  the  opposite  claims  of  the  great  and  little 
States,  of  the  latter  to  equal,  and  the  former  to  proportional 
influence.  I  am  much  pleased,  too,  with  the  substitution  of  the 
method  of  voting  by  persons,  instead  of  that  of  voting  by  States; 
and  I  like  the  negative  given  to  the  Executive  with  a  third  of 
either  House,  though  I  should  have  liked  it  better  had  the  | 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  169 

Judiciary  been  associated  for  that  purpose,  or  invested  withi 
a  similar  and  separate  power. 

I  will  now  add  what  I  do  not  like.    First,  the  omission  of  a 
bill  of  Rights  providing  clearly  and  without  the  aid  of  sophisms 
for  freedom  of  religion,  freedom  of  the  press,  protection  against 
standing  armies,  restriction  against  monopolies,  the  eternal  and 
unremitting  force  of  the  habeas  corpus  laws,  and  trials  by  jury 
in  all  matters  of  fact  triable  by  the  laws  of  the  land  and  not 
by  the  laws  of  the  Nation.     *     *     *     A  bill  of  rights  is  what*" 
the  people  are  entitled  to  against  every  government  on  earth.,, 
*     *     *     The  second  feature  I  dislike,  and  greatly  dislike,  is 
the  abandonment  in  every  instance  of  the  necessity  of  rotation 
in  office,  and  most  particularly  in  the  case  of  the  President. 
Experience  concurs  with  reason  in  concluding  that  the  first 
magistrate  will  always  be  re-elected  if  the  Constitution  permits 
it.     He  is  then  an  officer  for  life.     *     *     *     The  power  of 
removing  him  every  fourth  year  by  the  vote  of  the  people  is  a 
power  which  will  not  be  exercised.    The  King  of  Poland  is  re 
movable  every  day  by  the  Diet,  yet  he  is  never  removed.  Smaller 
objections  are  the  appeal  in  fact  as  well  as  law,  and  the  binding 
all  persons,  Legislative,  Executive,  and  Judiciary  by  oath  to 
maintain  that  Constitution.     After  all,  it  is  my  principle  thaf» 
the  will  of  the  majority  should  always  prevail.    If  they  approve  j 
the  proposed  Constitution  in  all  its  parts,  I  shall  concur  in  it 
cheerfully,  in  hopes  that  they  will  amend  it  whenever  they  shall 
find  it  work  wrong.    (To  James  Madison,  written  in  Paris,  1787^ 
F.  IV.,  476.) 

THE  CONSTITUTION. — As  to  the  new  Constitution,  I  find  my 
self  nearly  a  neutral.  There  is  a  great  mass  of  good  in  it,  in  a 
very  desirable  form;  but  there  is  also  to  me  a  bitter  pill  or 
two.  I  have  written  somewhat  lengthy  to  Mr.  Madison  on 
this  subject  and  will  take  the  liberty  to  refer  you  to  that  part  of 
my  letter  to  him.  I  will  add  one  question  to  what  I  have  said 
there.  Would  it  not  have  been  better  to  assign  to  Congress 
exclusively  the  articles  of  imposts  for  Federal  purposes,  and  to 
have  left  direct  taxation  exclusively  to  the  States?  I  should 
suppose  the  former  fund  sufficient  for  all  probable  events,  aided 


170  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

by  the  land  office.  (To  Edward  Carrington,  1787.  F.  IV.,  482.) 
THE  CONSTITUTION. — I  am  glad  to  learn  that  the  new  Consti 
tution  will  undoubtedly  be  received  by  a  sufficiency  of  the  States 
to  set  it  a  going.  Were  I  in  America,  I  would  advocate  it  warmly 
till  nine  should  have  adopted  it,  and  then  as  warmly  take  the 
other  side  to  convince  the  remaining  four  that  they  ought  not 
to  come  into  it  until  the  declaration  of  rights  is  annexed  to  it. 
By  this  means  we  should  secure  all  the  good  of  it  and  procure 
so  respectable  an  opposition  as  would  induce  the  accepting 
States  to  offer  a  bill  of  rights.  *  *  *  I  fear  much  the  ef 
fects  of  the  perpetual  re-eligibility  of  the  President.  (To  Stephens 
Smith,  written  in  Paris,  1788.  F.  V.,  2.) 

THE  CONSTITUTION. — I  congratulate  you  on  the  accession  of 
your  State  (South  Carolina)  to  the  new  Federal  Constitution. 
*  *  *  Our  Government  wanted  bracing.  Still  we  must  take 
care  not  to  run  from  one  extreme  to  another;  not  to  brace 
too  high.  I  own  I  join  those  in  opinion  who  think  a  bill  of  Rights  } 
necessary.  I  apprehended  too  that  the  total  abandonment  of  the  i 
principle  of  rotation  in  the  offices  of  President  and  Senator 
will  end  in  abuse.  But  my  confidence  is  that  there  will  for  a 
long  time  be  virtue  and  good  sense  enough  in  our  countrymen 
to  correct  abuses.  We  can  surely  boast  of  having  set  the  world 
a  beautiful  example  of  a  government  reformed  by  reason  alone 
without  bloodshed.  (To  Edward  Rutledge,  written  in  Paris, 
1788.  F.  V.,  42.) 

N/THE  CONSTITUTION. — The  operations  which  have  taken  place 
in  America  lately,  fill  me  with  pleasure.  In  the  first  place  they 
realize  the  confidence  I  had  that  whenever  our  affairs  go  ob 
viously  wrong  the  good  sense  of  the  people  will  interfere  and  set 
them  to  rights.  The  example  of  changing  a  Constitution  by 
assembling  the  wise  men  of  the  State,  instead  of  assembling 
armies,  will  be  worth  as  much  to  the  world  as  the  former  ex 
amples  we  had  given  them.  The  Constitution,  too,  which  was 
the  result  of  our  deliberations,  is  unquestionably  the  wisest  ever 
produced  to  men,  and  some  of  the  accommodations  of  interest 
which  it  has  adopted  are  greatly  pleasing  to  me  who  have  before  •' 
had  occasions  of  seeing  how  difficult  those  interests  were  to  i 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  17.1 

accommodate.     (Written  to   David  Humphreys,   from   Paris, 
1789.     F.  V.,  89.) 

^THE  CONSTITUTION. — But  when  I  consider  that  the  limits  of 
the  United  States  are  precisely  fixed  by  the  treaty  of  1783,  that 
the  Constitution  expressly  declares  itself  to  be  made  for  the 
United  States,  I  cannot  help  believing  the  intention  was  to 
permit  Congress  to  admit  into  the  Union  new  States,  which 
should  be  formed  out  of  the  territory  for  which,  and  under 
whose  authority  alone,  they  were  then  acting.  I  do  not  be 
lieve  it  was  meant  that  they  might  receive  England,  Ireland, 
Holland,  etc.,  into  it,  which  would  be  the  case  on  your  coij- 
struction.  When  an  instrument  admits  two  constructions,  th& 
one  safe,  the  other  dangerous,  the  one  precise,  the  other  in- 
definite,  I  prefer  that  which  is  safe  and  precise.  I  had  rather 
ask  an  enlargement  of  power  from  the  nation,  where  it  is  found 
necessary,  than  to  assume  it  by  a  construction  which  would 
make  our  powers  boundless.  Our  peculiar  security  is  in  pos 
session  of  a  written  Constitution.  Let  us  not  make  it  blank; 
paper  by  construction.  I  say  the  same  as  to  the  opinion  of  thosel: 
who  consider  the  grant  of  the  treaty  making  power  as  bound 
less.  If  it  is,  then  we  have  no  Constitution.  If  it  has  bounds, 
they  can  be  no  others  than  the  definitions  of  the  powers  which 
that  instrument  gives.  It  specifies  and  delineates  the  opera 
tions  permitted  to  the  Federal  Government,  and  gives  all  the 
powers  necessary  to  carry  these  into  execution.  Whatever  of 
these  enumerated  objects  is  proper  for  a  law,  Congress  may 
make  the  law;  whatever  is  proper  to  be  executed  by  way  of  a 
treaty,  the  President  and  Senate  may  enter  into  the  treaty;  what 
ever  is  done  by  a  Judicial  sentence,  the  Judges  may  pass  the 
sentence.  Nothing  is  more  likely  than  that  their  enumeration 
of  powers  is  defective.  This  is  the  ordinary  case  of  all  human 
works.  Let  us  go  on  then  perfecting  it,  by  adding,  by  \vay  of 
amendment  to  the  Constitution,  those  powers  which  time  and 
trial  show  are  still  wanting.  But  it  has  been  taken  too  much 
for  granted,  that  by  the  rigorous  construction  the  treaty  power 
would  be  reduced  to  nothing.  I  had  occasion  once  to  examine 
its  effect  on  the  French  treaty,  made  by  the  old  Congress,  and 


172  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

found  that  out  of  thirty  odd  articles  which  that  contained, 
there  were  one,  two,  or  three  only  which  could  not  now  be 
stipulated  under  our  present  Constitution.  I  confess,  then,  I 
think  it  important,  in  the  present  case,  to  set  an  example  against 
broad  construction,  by  appealing  for  new  power  to  the  people. 
If,  however,  our  friends  shall  think  differently,  certainly  I  shall 
acquiesce  with  satisfaction;  confiding,  that  the  good  sense  of 
our  country  will  correct  the  evil  of  construction  when  it  shall 
produce  ill  effects.  (To  W.  C.  Nicholas,  1803.  F.  VIIL,  247.) 
THE  CONSTITUTION. — A  Constitution  has  been  acquired, 
which,  though  neither  of  us  thinks  perfect,  yet  both  consider  as 
competent  to  render  our  fellow  citizens  the  happiest  and  the  se 
curest  on  whom  the  sun  has  ever  shone.  If  we  do  not  think  exactly 
alike  as  to  its  imperfections,  it  matters  little  to  our  country, 
which,  after  devoting  to  it  long  lives  of  disinterested  labor,  we 
have  delivered  over  to  our  successors  in  life,  who  will  be  able  to 
take  care  of  it  and  of  themselves.  (To  John  Adams,  1813. 
C.  VI.,  227.) 

/THE  CONSTITUTION. — Some  men  look  at  Constitutions  with 
sanctimonious  reverence,  and  deem  them  like  the  ark  of  the 
covenant,  too  sacred  to  be  touched.  They  ascribe  to  the  men 
of  the  preceding  age  a  wisdom  more  than  human,  and  suppose 
what  they  did  to  be  beyond  amendment.  I  knew  that  age  well; 
I  belonged  to  it,  and  labored  with  it.  It  deserved  well  of  its 
country.  It  was  very  like  the  present;  and  forty  years  of  ex 
perience  in  government  Is  worth  a  century  of  book-reading; 
and  this  they  would  say  themselves,  were  they  to  rise  from  the 
dead.  I  am  certainly  not  an  advocate  for  frequent  and  untried 
changes  in  laws  and  constitutions.  I  think  moderate  imperfec 
tions  had  better  be  borne  with;  because,  when  once  known, 
we  accommodate  ourselves  to  them,  and  find  practical  means 
of  correcting  their  ill  effects.  But  I  know,  also,  that  laws  and  in-, 
stitutions  must  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  progress  of  the  human! 
mind.  As  that  becomes  more  developed,  more  enlightened/ 
as  new  discoveries  are  made,  new  truths  disclosed,  and  manners 
and  opinions  change  with  the  change  of  circumstances,  institu 
tions  must  advance  also,  and  keep  pace  with  the  times.  We 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  173 

might  as  well  require  a  man  to  wear  still  the  coat  which  fitted 
him  when  a  boy,  as  civilized  society  to  remain  ever  under  the 
regimen  of  their  barbarous  ancestors.  It  is  this  preposterous 
idea  wrhich  has  lately  deluged  Europe  in  blood.  Their  mon- 
archs,  instead  of  wisely  yielding  to  the  gradual  change  of  cir 
cumstances,  of  favoring  progressive  accommodation  to  pro 
gressive  improvement,  have  clung  to  old  abuses,  entrenched 
themselves  behind  steady  habits,  and  obliged  their  subjects  to 
seek  through  blood  and  violence  rash  and  ruinous  innovations, 
which,  had  they  been  referred  to  the  peaceful  deliberations  and 
collected  wisdom  of  the  nation,  would  have  been  put  into  accept 
able  and  salutary  form.  Let  us  follow  no  such  examples,  nor 
weakly  believe  that  6ne  generation  is  not  as  capable  as  another 
of  taking  care  of  itself,  and  of  ordering  its  own  affairs.  Let  us, 
as  our  sister  States  have  done,  avail  ourselves  of  our  reason  and 
experience,  to  correct  the  crude  essays  of  our  first  and  unex 
perienced,  although  wise,  virtuous,  and  well-meaning  councils. 
And  lastly,  let  us  provide  in  our  Constitution  for  its  revision  at 
stated  periods.  What  these  periods  should  be,  nature  herself 
indicates.  By  the  European  tables  of  mortality,  of  the  adults  ., 
living  at  any  one  moment  of  time,  a  majority  will  be  dead  in 
about  nineteen  years.  At  the  end  of  that  period  then  a  new 
majority  is  come  into  place;  or,  in  other  words,  a  new  gener 
ation.  Each  generation  is  as  independent  of  the  one  preceding, 
as  that  was  of  all  which  had  gone  before.  It  has,  then,  like  them, 
a  right  to  choose  for  itself  the  form  of  government  it  believes 
most  promotive  of  its  own  happiness;  consequently,  to  accom 
modate  to  the  circumstances  in  which  it  finds  itself,  that  received 
from  its  predecessors;  and  it  is  for  the  peace  and  good  of  man 
kind,  that  a  solemn  opportunity  of  doing  this  every  nineteen  or 
twenty  years,  should  be  provided  by  the  Constitution;  so  that  it 
may  be  handed  on,  with  periodical  repairs,  from  generation,  to 
generation,  to  generation,  to  the  end  of  time,  if  anything  human 
can  endure  so  long.  It  is  now  forty  years  since  the  Constitution 
of  Virginia  was  formed.  The  same  tables  inform  us,  that,  within 
that  period,  two-thirds  of  the  adults  then  living  are  now  dead. 
Have  then  the  remaining  third,  even  if  they  had  the  wish,  the 


174  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

right  to  hold  in  obedience  to  their  will,  and  to  laws  heretofore 
made  by  them,  the  other  two-thirds,  who,  with  themselves,  com 
pose  the  present  mass  of  adults?  If  they  have  not,  wh*o  has? 
The  dead?  But  the  dead  have  no  rights.  They  are  nothing; 
and  nothing  cannot  be  something.  Where  there  is  no  substance, 
there  can  be  no  accident.  This  corporeal  globe,  and  everything 
upon  it,  belongs  to  its  present  corporeal  inhabitants,  during 
their  generation.  They  alone  have  the  right  to  direct  what  is 
the  concern  of  themselves  alone,  and  to  declare  the  law  of  that 
direction;  and  this  declaration  can  only  be  made  by  their  ma 
jority.  That  majority,  then,  has  a  right  to  depute  representa 
tives  to  a  convention,  and  to  make  the  Constitution  what  they 
think  will  be  the  best  for  themselves.  (To  Samuel  Kercheval, 
1816.  C.  VII.,  14-16.) 

THE  CONSTITUTION. — The  radical  idea  of  the  character  of  the 
Constitution  of  our  government,  which  I  have  adopted  as  a  key 
in  cases  of  doubtful  construction,  is,  that  the  whole  field  of 
government  is  divided  into  two  departments,  domestic  and  for 
eign  (the  States  in  their  mutual  relations  being  of  the  latter); 
that  the  former  department  is  reserved  exclusively  to  the  re 
spective  States  within  their  own  limits,  and  the  latter  assigned 
to  a  separate  set  of  functionaries,  constituting  what  may  be 
called  the  foreign  branch,  which,  instead  of  a  Federal  basis,  is 
established  as  a  distinct  government  quoad  hoc,  acting  as  the 
domestic  branch  does  on  the  citizens  directly  and  coercively; 
that  these  departments  have  distinct  directories,  co-ordinate, 
and  equally  independent  and  supreme,  each  within  its  own 
sphere  of  action.  Whenever  a  doubt  arises  to  which  of  these 
branches  a  power  belongs,  I  try  it  by  this  test.  I  recollect  no 
case  where  a  question  simply  between  citizens  of  the  same  State, 
has  been  transferred  to  the  foreign  department,  except  that  of 
inhibiting  tenders  but  of  metallic  money,  and  ex  post  facto 
legislation.  The  causes  of  these  singularities  are  well  remem 
bered.  (To  Edward  Livingston,  1824.  C.  VII.,  342.) 
^CONSTITUTIONALITY. — Whether  the  judges  are  invested  with  i 
exclusive  authority  to  decide  on  the  Constitutionality  of  a  law, 
has  been  heretofore  a  subject  of  consideration  with  me  in  the 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  1/5 

exercise  of  official  duties.  Certainly  there  is  not  a  word  in  the 
Constitution  which  has  given  that  power  to  them  more  than  to 
the  executive  or  legislative  branches.  Questions  of  property,  of 
character  and  of  crime  being  ascribed  to  the  Judges,  through 
a  definite  course  of  legal  proceeding,  laws  involving  such  ques 
tions  belong,  of  course,  to  them;  and  as  they  decide  on  them 
ultimately  and  without  appeal,  they,  of  course,  decide  for  them 
selves.  The  Constitutional  validity  of  the  law  or  laws  again 
prescribing  executive  action,  and  to  be  administered  by  that 
branch  ultimately  and  without  appeal,  the  Executive  must  de 
cide  for  themselves  also,  whether,  under  the  Constitution,  they 
are  valid  or  not.  So  also  as  to  laws  governing  the  proceedings 
of  the  legislature,  that  body  must  judge  for  itself  the  constitu 
tionality  of  the  law,  and  equally  without  appeal  or  control  from 
its  co-ordinate  branches.  And,  in  general,  that  branch  which 
is  to  act  ultimately,  and  without  appeal,  on  any  law,  is  the  [ 
rightful  expositor  of  the  validity  of  the  law,  uncontrolled  by 
the  opinions  of  the  other  co-ordinate  authorities.  (To  W.  H. 
Torrance,  1815.  C.  VI.,  461.) 

CONSTITUTIONS. — No  society  can  make  a  perpetual  Constitu-, 
tion  or  even  a  perpetual  law.  The  earth  belongs  always  to  thej 
living  generation.  They  may  manage  it  then,  and  what  pro 
ceeds  from  it,  as  they  please  during  their  usufruct.  They  are 
masters,  too,  of  their  own  persons,  and  consequently  may  gov 
ern  them  as  they  please.  But  persons  and  property  make  the 
sum  of  the  objects  of  government.  The  Constitution  and  laws 
of  their  predecessors  extinguished  them,  in  their  natural  course, 
with  those  whose  will  gave  them  being.  This  could  preserve 
that  being  till  it  ceased  to  be  itself,  and  no  longer.  Every 
Constitution,  then,  and  every  law,  naturally  expires  at  the  end 
of  nineteen  years.  If  it  be  enforced  longer,  it  is  an  act  of  force 
and  not  of  right. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  succeeding  generations  exercising  in 
fact  the  power  of  repeal,  this  leaves  them  as  free  as  if  the  Con 
stitution  or  law  had  been  expressly  limited  to  nineteen  years 
only.  In  the  first  place,  this  objection  admits  the  right,  in  pro 
posing  an  equivalent.  It  might  be  indeed  if  every  form  of  gov- 


Ij6  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

ernment  were  so  perfectly  contrived  that  the  will  of  the  majority 
could  always  be  obtained  fairly  and  without  impediment.  But 
this  is  true  of  no  form.  The  people  cannot  assemble  themselves; 
their  representation  is  unequal  and  vicious.  Various  checks  are 
opposed  to  every  legislative  proposition.  Factions  get  posses 
sion  of  the  public  councils.  Bribery  corrupts  them.  Personal, 
interests  lead  them  astray  from  the  general  interests  of  their. 
constituents;  and  other  impediments  arise  so  as  to  prove  to 
every  practical  man  that  a  law  of  limited  duration  is  much  more 
manageable  than  one  which  needs  a  repeal.  (Written  to  James 
Madison  from  Paris,  1789.  F.  V.,  121.) 

vCoNSTiTuxiONS. — However,  it  is  still  certain  that  the  written 
Constitutions  may  be  violated  in  moments  of  passion  or  delu 
sion,  yet  they  furnish  a  text  to  which  those  who  are  watchful 
may  again  rally  and  recall  the  people;  they  fix  too  for  the  people 
the  principles  of  their  political  creed.  (To  Joseph  Priestly,  1802. 
F.  VIIL,  159.) 

^/  CONSULS. — The  law  of  nations  does  not  of  itself  extend  to 
consuls  at  all.  They  are  not  of  the  diplomatic  class  of  charac 
ters,  to  which  alone  that  law  extends  of  right.  Convention  in 
deed  may  give  it  to  them,  and  sometimes  has  done  so;  but  in 
that  case  the  convention  can  be  produced.  In  ours  with  France, 
it  is  expressly  declared  that  consuls  shall  have  the  privilege  of 
that  law,  and  we  have  no  convention  with  any  other  nation. 
*  *  *'  Independent  of  law,  consuls  are  to  be  considered  as 
distinguished  foreigners,  dignified  by  a  commission  from  their 
sovereign  and  especially  recommended  by  him  to  the  respect  of 
the  nations  with  whom  they  reside.  They  are  subject  to  the 
laws  of  the  land,  indeed,  precisely  as  other  foreigners  are,  a 
convention  where  there  is  one  making  part  of  the  law  of  the 
land;  but  if  at  any  time,  their  conduct  should  render  it  neces 
sary  to  arrest  the  authority  of  the  laws  over  them,  the  rigor 
of  those  laws  should  be  tempered  by  our  respect  for  their 
sovereign  as  far  as  the  case  will  admit.  This  moderate  and 
respectful  treatment  towards  foreign  consuls,  it  is  my  duty  to 
recommend  and  press  on  our  citizens,  because  I  ask  it  for  their 


OF   THOMAS  JEFFERSON  177 

good  towards  our  own  consuls,  from  the  people  with  whom 
they  reside.  (To  T.  Newton,  1791.  C.  III.,  295.) 
/CONTRABAND. — It  may  be  objected  that  this  proves  too  much, 
as  it  proves  you  cannot  enter  the  ship  of  a  friend  to  search 
for  contraband  of  war.  But  this  is  not  proving  too  much.  We 
believe  the  practice  of  seizing  what  is  called  contraband  of  war, 
is  an  abusive  practice,  not  founded  in  natural  right.  War  be 
tween  two  nations  cannot  diminish  the  rights  of  the  rest  of  the 
world  remaining  at  peace.  The  doctrine  that  the  rights  of 
nations  remaining  quietly  under  the  exercise  of  moral  and  social 
duties,  are  to  give  way  to  the  convenience  of  those  wTho  prefer 
plundering  and  murdering  one  another,  is  a  monstrous  doctrine; 
and  ought  to  yield  to  the  more  rational  law,  that  "the  wrongs 
which  two  nations  endeavor  to  inflict  on  each  other,  must  not 
infringe  on  the  rights  or  conveniences  of  those  remaining  at 
peace."  And  what  is  contraband,  by  thej^tw-of  nature?  Either 
everything  which  may  aid  or  comfort  an  enemy,  or  nothing. 
Either  all  commerce  which  would  accommodate  him  is  un 
lawful,  or  none  is.  The  difference  between  articles  of  one  or 
another  description,  is  a  difference  in  degree  only.  No  line  be 
tween  them  can  be  drawn.  Either  all  intercourse  must  cease 
between  neutrals  and  belligerents,  or  all  be  permitted.  Can  the 
world  hesitate  to  say  which  shall  be  the  rule?  Shall  two  nations 
turning  tigers,  break  up  in  one  instant  the  peaceable  relations 
of  the  whole  world?  Reason  and  nature  clearly  pronounce 
that  the  neutral  is  to  go  on  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  its  rights, 
that  its  commerce  remains  free,  not  subject  to  the  jurisdiction 
of  another,  nor  consequently  its  vessels  to  search,  or  to  enquiries 
whether  their  contents  are  the  property  of  an  enemy,  or  are 
those  which  have  been  called  contraband  of  war.  (To  the  United 
States  Minister  to  France,  1801.  F.  VIII. ,  90.) 

CONTROVERSY. — But  in  stating  prudential  rules  for  our  gov 
ernment  in  society,  I  must  not  omit  the  important  one  of  never 
entering  into  a  dispute  or  argument  with  another.  I  never  saw  an 
instance  of  one  of  two  disputants  convincing  the  other  by  argu 
ment.  I  have  seen  many,  on  their  getting  warm,  becoming 
rude,  and  shooting  one  another.  Conviction  is  the  effect  of  our 


THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

own  dispassionate  reasoning,  either  in  solitude,  or  weighing 
within  ourselves,  dispassionately,  what  we  hear  from  others, 
standing  unconvicted  in  argument  ourselves.  It  was  one  of  the 
rules  which,  above  all  others,  made  Dr.  Franklin  the  most  amia 
ble  of  men  in  society,  "Never  to  contradict  anybody."  If  he 
was  urged  to  announce  an  opinion  he  did  it  rather  by  asking 
questions,  as  if  for  information  or  by  suggesting  doubts.  When 
I  hear  another  express  an  opinion  which  is  not  mine,  I  say  to 
myself,  he  has  a  right  to  his  opinion,  as  I  to  mine;  why  should 
I  question  it?  His  error  does  me  no  injury,  and  shall  I  be 
come  a  Don  Quixote  to  bring  all  men  by  force  of  argument 
to  one  opinion?  If  a  fact  be  misstated,  it  is  probable  he  is 
gratified  by  the  belief  of  it,  and  I  have  no  right  to  deprive  him 
of  the  gratification.  If  he  wants  reformation  he  will  ask  it,  and 
then  I  will  give  it  in  measured  terms;  but  if  he  still  believes 
his  own  story,  and  shows  a  desire  to  dispute  the  fact  with  me,  I 
hear  him  and  say  nothing.  It  is  his  affair,  not  mine,  if  he 
prefers  error. 

There  are  two  classes  of  disputants  most  frequently  to  be  met 
with  among  us.  The  first  is  of  young  students,  just  entered  the 
threshold  of  science,  with  a  first  view  of  its  outlines,  not  yet 
filled  up  with  the  details  and  modifications  which  a  further 
progress  would  bring  to  their  knowledge.  The  other  consists 
of  the  ill-tempered  and  rude  men  in  society,  who  have  taken  up 
a  passion  for  politics.  (Good  humor  and  politeness  never  intro 
duce  into  a  mixed  society  a  question  on  which  they  foresee 
there  will  be  a  difference  of  opinion.)  From  both  of  these 
classes  of  disputants,  my  dear  Jefferson,  keep  aloof  as  you  would 
from  the  infected  subjects  of  yellow  fever  or  pestilence.  Con 
sider  yourself  when  with  them  as  among  the  patients  of  Bedlam, 
needing  medical  more  than  moral  counsel.  Be  a  listener  only, 
keep  within  yourself,  and  endeavor  to  establish  with  yourself 
the  habit  of  silence,  especially  in  politics.  In  the  fevered  state 
of  our  country  no  good  can  ever  result  from  any  attempt  to 
set  one  of  these  fiery  zealots  to  rights,  either  in  fact  or  principle. 
They  are  determined  as  to  the  facts  they  will  believe  and  the 
opinions  on  which  they  will  act.  Get  by  them,  therefore,  as 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  179 

you  would  by  an  angry  bull;  it  is  not  for  a  man  of  sense  to 
dispute  the  road  with  such  an  animal.  (To  T.  J.  Randolph, 
1808.  C.  V.,  390.) 

CORPORATIONS. — The  Senate  received  yesterday  a  bill  from 
the  representatives  incorporating  a  company  for  Roosevelt's 
copper  mines  in  Jersey.  This  is  under  the  sweeping  clause  of 
the  Constitution,  and  supported  by  the  following  pedigree  of 
necessities.  Congresses  are  authorized  to  defend  the  country; 
ships  are  necessary  for  that  defense;  copper  is  necessary  for 
ships;  mines  are  necessary  to  produce  copper;  companies  are 
necessary  to  work  mines:  and  "this  is  the  house  that  Jack 
built."  (To  R.  Livingston,  1800.  F.  VII.,  446.) 

CORPORATIONS. — It  has  always  been  denied  by  the  Republican 
[Democratic]  party  in  this  country  that  the  Constitution  had 
given  the  power  of  incorporation  to  Congress.  On  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  bank  of  the  United  States,  this  was  the  great 
ground  on  which  that  establishment  was  combated;  and  the 
party  prevailing  supported  it  only  on  the  argument  of  its  being 
an  incident  to  the  power  given  them  for  raising  money.  On 
this  ground  it  has  been  acquiesced  in,  and  will  probably  be 
again  acquiesced  in  as  subsequently  confirmed  by  public  opinion. 
But  in  no  other  instance  have  they  ever  exercised  the  power 
of  incorporation  out  of  this  district,  of  which  they  are  the 
ordinary  legislature.  (To  Dr.  Mease,  1809.  C.  V.,  412.) 

CORPORATIONS.- — It  ends  as  might  have  been  expected  in  the 
ruin  of  its  (England's)  people,  but  this  ruin  will  fall  heaviest, 
as  it  ought  to  fall,  on  that  hereditary  aristocracy.  *  *  *  I 
hope  we  shall  take  warning  from  the  example  of  England  and 
crush  in  its  birth  the  aristocracy  of  our  moneyed  corporations 
which  dare  already  to  challenge  our  Government  to  trial,  and 
bid  defiance  to  the  laws  of  our  country.  (To  George  Logan, 
1816.  F.  X.,  69.) 

toRRESPONDENCE. — A  right  of  a  free  correspondence  between 
citizen  and  citizen  on  their  joint  interests,  whether  public  or 
private  and  under  whatsoever  laws  these  interests  arise  (to  wit, 
of  the  State,  of  Congress,  of  France,  Spain  or  Turkey),  is  a 
natural  right,  it  is  not  the  gift  of  any  municipal  law  either  of 


l8o  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

England,  or  Virginia,  or  of  Congress;  but  in  common  with  all 
our  other  natural  rights  is  one  of  the  objects  for  the  protection 
of  which  society  is  formed  and  municipal  laws  established. 
(To  James  Monroe,  1797.  F.  VII.,  172.) 

COUNSEL. — I  have  placed  my  happiness  on  seeing  you  good 
and  accomplished;  and  no  distress  this  world  can  now  bring 
on  me  would  equal  that  of  disappointing  my  hopes.  If  you 
love  me,  then  strive  to  be  good  under  every  situation  and  to 
all  living  creatures,  and  to  acquire  those  accomplishments 
which  I  have  put  in  your  power.  (From  a  letter  to  his  daughter, 
1782.  F.  III.,  346.) 

COUNSEL. — Time  now  begins  to  be  precious  to  you.  Every 
day  you  lose  will  retard  a  day  your  entrance  on  that  public  stage 
whereon  you  may  begin  to  be  useful  to  yourself.  However,  the 
way  to  repair  the  loss  is  to  improve  the  future  time.  I  trust, 
that  with  your  disposition,  even  the  acquisition  of  science  is  a 
pleasing  employment.  I  can  assure  you,  that  the  possession  of 
it  is,  what  (next  to  an  honest  heart)  will  above  all  things  render 
you  dear  to  your  friends,  and  give  you  fame  and  promotion  in 
your  own  country.  When  your  mind  shall  be  well  improved 
with  science,  nothing  will  be  necessary  to  place  you  in  the 
highest  point  of  view  but  to  pursue  the  interests  of  your  coun 
try,  the  interests  of  your  friends,  and  your  own  interests  also, 
with  the  purest  integrity,  the  most  chaste  honor.  The  defect 
of  these  virtues  can  never  be  made  up  by  all  the  other  acquire 
ments  of  body  and  mind.  Make  these  your  first  object.  Give 
up  money,  give  up  fame,  give  up  science,  give  the  earth  and  all 
it  contains,  rather  than  do  an  immoral  act.  And  never  sup 
pose,  that  in  any  possible  situation,  or  under  any  circumstances, 
it  is  best  for  you  to  do  a  dishonorable  thing,  however  slightly 
so  it  may  appear  to  you.  Whenever  you  are  to  do  a  thing, 
though  it  can  never  be  known  but  to  yourself,  ask  yourself  how 
you  would  act  were  all  the  world  looking  at  you,  and  act 
accordingly.  Encourage  all  your  virtuous  dispositions,  and 
exercise  them  whenever  the  opportunity  arises;  being  assured 
that  they  will  gain  strength  by  exercise,  as  a  limb  of  the  body 
does,  and  that  exercise  will  make  them  habitual.  From  the 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  l8l 

practice  of  the  purest  virtue,  you  may  be  assured  you  will 
derive  the  most  sublime  comforts  in  every  moment  of  life,  and 
in  the  moment  of  death.  If  ever  you  find  yourself  environed 
with  difficulties  and  perplexing  circumstances,  out  of  which 
you  are  at  a  loss  how  to  extricate  yourself,  do  what  is  right, 
and  be  assured  that  that  will  extricate -you  the  best  out  of  the 
worst  situations.  Though  you  cannot  see,  when  you  take  one 
step,  what  will  be  the  next,  yet  follow  truth,  justice,  and  plain 
dealing,  and  never  fear  their  leading  you  out  of  the  labyrinth, 
in  the  easiest  manner  possible.  The  knot  which  you  thought  a 
Gordian  one,  will  untie  itself  before  you.  Nothing  is  so  mis 
taken  as  the  supposition,  that  a  person  is  to  extricate  himself 
from  a  difficulty  by  intrigue,  by  chicanery,  by  dissimulation, 
by  trimming,  by  an  untruth,  by  an  injustice.  This  increases  the 
difficulties  tenfold;  and  those  who  pursue  these  methods  get 
themselves  so  involved  at  length,  that  they  can  turn  no  way 
but  their  infamy  becomes  more  exposed.  It  is  of  great  im 
portance  to  set  a  resolution,  not  to  be  shaken,  never  to  tell  an 
untruth.  There  is  no  vice  so  mean,  so  pitiful,  so  contemptible; 
and  he  who  permits  himself  to  tell  a  lie  once,  finds  it  much  easier 
to  do  it  a  second  and  third  time,  till  at  length  it  becomes 
habitual;  he  tells  lies  without  attending  to  it,  and  truths  with 
out  the  world's  believing  him.  This  falsehood  of  the  tongue 
leads  to  that  of  the  heart,  and  in  time  depraves  all  its  good 
dispositions.  (To  Peter  Carr,  a  nephew,  1785.  C.  L,  395.) 

COUNSEL. — I  hope  you  are  a  very  good  girl,  that  you  love 
your  uncle  and  aunt  very  much,  and  are  very  thankful  to  them 
for  all  their  goodness  to  you;  that  you  never  suffer  yourself  to 
be  angry  with  anybody,  that  you  give  your  playthings  to  those 
who  want  them,  that  you  do  whatever  anybody  desires  of  you 
that  is  right,  that  you  never  tell  stories,  never  beg  for  anything, 
mind  your  books  and  your  work  when  your  aunt  tells  you, 
never  play  but  when  she  permits  you,  nor  go  when  she  forbids 
you;  remember,  too,  as  a  constant  charge  not  to  go  out  with 
out  your  bonnet,  because  it  will  make  you  very  ugly,  and  then 
we  shall  not  love  you  so  much.  (From  a  letter  written  to  his 
daughter  Mary,  aged  seven,  1785.  F.  IV.,  98.) 


182  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

COUNSEL. — This  letter  will,  to  you,  be  as  one  from  the  dead. 
The  writer  will  be  in  the  grave  before  you  can  weigh  its  counsels. 
Your  affectionate  and  excellent  father  has  requested  that  I 
would  address  to  you  something  which  might  possibly  have  a 
favorable  influence  on  the  course  of  life  you  have  to  run,  and  I, 
too,  as  a  namesake,  feel  an  interest  in  that  course.  Few  words 
will  be  necessary,  with  good  dispositions  on  your  part.  Adore 
God.  Reverence  and  cherish  your  parents.  Love  your  neighbor 
as  yourself.  Be  just.  Be  true.  Murmur  not  at  the  ways  of 
Providence.  So  shall  the  life  into  which  you  have  entered,  be 
the  portal  to  one  of  eternal  and  ineffable  bliss.  (To  Thomas 
Jefferson  Smith,  1825.  C.  VIL,  401.) 

CREATION. — I  give  one  answer  to  all  theorists — that  is  as  fol 
lows:  They  all  suppose  the  earth  a  created  existence;  they 
must  suppose  a  Creator,  then,  and  that  he  possessed  power 
and  wisdom  to  a  great  degree.  As  he  intended  the  earth  for  the 
habitation  of  animals  and  vegetables,  is  it  reasonable  to  sup 
pose  he  made  two  jobs  of  the  creation?  That  he  first  made  a 
chaotic  lump  and  set  it  in  motion,  and  then,  waiting  ages  neces 
sary  to  form  itself — that  when  it  had  done  this  he  stepped  in  a 
second  time  to  create  the  animals  and  plants  which  were  to 
inhabit  it?  As  a  hand  of  a  Creator  is  to  be  called  in  it  may  as 
well  be  called  in  at  one  stage  of  the  process  as  another.  We 
may  as  well  suppose  he  created  the  earth  at  once  nearly  in  the 
state  in  which  we  see  it.  (To  Charles  Thompson,  written  in 
Paris,  1786.  F.  IV.,  338.) 

CREDIT. — I  own  it  to  be  my  opinion  that  good  will  arise  from 
destruction  of  our  credit.  I  see  nothing  else  which  can  restrain 
our  disposition  to  luxury,  and  the  loss  of  these  manners  which 
alone  can  preserve  Republican  government.  As  it  is  impossible 
to  prevent  credit,  the  best  way  would  be  to  cure  its  ill  effects 
by  giving  an  instantaneous  recovery  to  the  creditor;  this  would 
be  reducing  purchases  on  credit  to  purchases  for  ready  money. 
A  man  would  then  see  a  poison  painted  on  everything  he  wished 
but  had  not  ready  money  to  pay  for  it.  (From  a  letter  written 
in  Paris  to  Archibald  Stuart,  1786.  F.  IV.,  188.) 

CREDIT. — Among  the  many  good  qualities  which  my  country- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  »  183 

men  possess  some  of  a  different  character  mix  themselves.  The 
most  remarkable  are  indolence,  extravagance  and  infidelity. 
Cure  the  first  two  and  the  last  would  disappear,  because  it  is  a 
consequence  of  them  and  not  proceeding  from  a  want  of  morals. 
I  know  of  no  remedy  against  indolence  and  extravagance  but 
a  free  course  of  justice  unobstructed.  The  maxim  of  buying 
nothing  without  the  money  in  our  pocket  would  make  of  our 
country  one  of  the  happiest  upon  earth.  *  *  *  Desperate 
of  finding  relief  from  a  free  course  of  justice,  I  look  forward 
to  the  abolition  of  all  credit  as  the  only  other  remedy  which 
can  take  place.  I  have  seen,  therefore,  the  pleasure  the  exag 
gerations  of  our  want  of  faith  with  which  the  London  papers 
teem.  It  is  indeed  a  strong  medicine  for  sensible  minds,  but  it 
is  a  medicine.  It  will  prevent  their  crediting  us  abroad,  in 
which  case  we  cannot  be  credited  at  home.  (From  a  letter  to 
A.  Donald,  written  from  Paris,  1787.  F.  IV.,  414.) 
***  CRIMES  AND  PUNISHMENTS. — In  forming  a  scale  of  crimes  and 
punishments,  two  considerations  have  considerable  weight,  i. 
The  atrocity  of  the  crime.  2.  The  peculiar  circumstances  of  a 
country  which  furnish  greater  temptations  to  commit  it,  or 
greater  facilities  for  escaping  detection.  The  punishment  must 
be  heavier  to  counterbalance  this.  Was  the  first  the  only 
consideration,  all  nations  would  form  the  same  scale.  But  as  the 
circumstances  of  a  country  have  influence  on  the  punishment, 
and  no  two  countries  exist  precisely  under  the  same  circum 
stances,  no  two  countries  will  form  the  same  scale  of  crimes 
and  punishments.  For  example,  in  America  the  inhabitants 
let  their  horses  go  at  large  in  the  uninclosed  lands  which  are 
so  extensive  as  to  maintain  them  altogether.  It  is  easy,  there- ' 
fore,  to  steal  them  and  easy  to  escape.  Therefore,  the  laws  are  \ 
obliged  to  oppose  these  temptations  with  a  heavier  degree  of 
punishment.  For  this  reason  the  stealing  of  a  horse  in  America 
is  punished  more  severely  than  stealing  the  same  value  in  any 
other  form.  In  Europe,  where  horses  are  confined  so  securely 
that  it  is  impossible  to  steal  them,  that  species  of  theft  need 
not  be  punished  more  severely  than  any  other.  In  some  coun 
tries  of  Europe,  stealing  fruit  from  trees  is  punished  capitally. 


184  -THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

This  to  an  unreflecting  American  appears  the  most  enormous 
of  all  the  abuses  of  power;  because  he  has  been  used  to  see 
fruit  hanging  in  such  quantities,  that  if  not  taken  by  men  they 
would  rot.  (From  observations  on  the  article  "United  States," 
prepared  for  the  Encyclopedia,  1786.  F.  IV.,  170.) 

CRIMINALS. — And  the  wretched  criminal,  if  he  happen  to  have 
offended  on  the  American  side,  stripped  of  his  privilege  of  trial 
by  peers  of  his  vicinage,  removed  from  the  place  where  alone  full 
evidence  could  be  obtained,  without  money,  without  counsel, 
without  friends,  without  exculpatory  proof,  is  tried  before 
judges  predetermined  to  condemn.  The  cowards  who  would 
suffer  a  countryman  to  be  torn  from  the  bowels  of  their  society, 
in  order  to  be  thus  offered  a  sacrifice  to  parliamentary  tyranny, 
would  merit  the  everlasting  infamy  now  fixed  on  the  authors  of 
the  act.  (An  Act  for  the  Suppression  of  Riots  in  the  Town  of 
Boston,  I4th  George  III.).  (From  a  "Summary  View,"  1774. 
F.  L,  4390 

*/  CRIMINALS. — A  member  of  society,  committing  an  inferior 
injury,  does  not  wholly  forfeit  the  protection  of  his  fellow  citi 
zens,  but  after  suffering  a  punishment  in  proportion  to  his 
offence,  is  entitled  to  their  protection  from  all  greater  pain,  so 
that  it  becomes  a  duty  to  the  Legislature  to  arrange  in  a  proper 
scale  the  crimes  which  it  may  be  necessary  for  them  to  repress, 
and  to  adjust  thereto  a  corresponding  gradation  of  punishment. 
(From  a  bill  relating  to  crimes  and  punishments,  1779.  F.  II., 
204.) 

j^/^ CRIMINALS. — The  reformation  of  offenders,  though  an  object 
worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  laws,  is  not  effected  at  all  by 
capital  punishments  which  exterminate  instead  of  reforming, 
and  should  be  the  last  melancholy  resource  against  those  whose 
existence  is  become  inconsistent  with  the  safety  of  their  fellow- 
citizens;  which  also  weaken  the  State  by  cutting  off  so>  many, 
who,  if  reformed,  might  be  restored  sound  members  of  "society, 
who  even  under  a  course  of  correction,  might  be  rendered  useful 
in  various  labors  for  the  public,  and  would  be  living  and  long- 
continued  spectacles  to  deter  others  from  committing  like 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  185 

offenses.     (From  a  bill  relating  to  crimes  and  punishments, 
1779.    F.  II.,  204.) 

CUBA. — But,  although  with  difficulty,  he  (Bonaparte)  will 
consent  to  our  receiving  Cuba  into  our  Union,  to  prevent  our 
aid  to  Mexico  and  the  other  provinces.  That  would  be  a  price 
and  I  would  immediately  erect  a  column  on  the  southernmost 
limit  of  Cuba,  and  inscribe  on  it  a  ne  plus  ultra  as  to  us  in  that 
direction.  We  should  then  have  only  to  include  the  north  in  our 
Confederacy,  which  would  be  of  course  in  the  first  war  and  we 
should  have  such  an  empire  for  liberty  as  she  has  never  sur 
veyed  since  creation;  and  I  am  persuaded  no  Constitution  was 
ever  before  so  well  calculated  as  ours  for  extensive  empire  and 
self-government.  *  *  *  It  will  be  objected  to  our  receiv 
ing  Cuba  that  no  limit  can  be  drawn  to  our  future  acquisitions. 
Cuba  can  be  defended  by  us  without  a  navy,  and  thus  develop 
the  principle  which  ought  to  limit  our  views.  Nothing  should 
ever  be  accepted  which  would  require  a  navy  to  defend  it.  (To 
James  Madison,  1809.  C.  V.,  444.) 

CUBA. — Do  we  wish  to  acquire  to  our  own  Confederacy  any 
one  or  more  of  the  Spanish  provinces?  I  candidly  confess,  that 
I  have  ever  looked  on  Cuba  as  the  most  interesting  addition 
which  could  ever  be  made  to  our  system  of  States.  The  control 
which,  with  Florida  Point,  this  island  would  give  us  over  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  countries  and  isthmus  bordering  on  it, 
as  well  as  all  those  whose  waters  flow  into  it,  would  fill  up  the 
measure  of  our  political  well-being.  Yet,  as  I  am  sensible  that 
this  can  never  be  obtained,  even  with  her  own  consent,  but  by 
war;  and  its  independence,  which  is  our  second  interest  (and 
especially  its  independence  of  England),  can  be  secured  without 
it,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  abandoning  my  first  wish  to  future 
chances,  and  accepting  its  independence,  with  peace  and  the 
friendship  of  England,  rather  than  its  association,  at  the  expense 
of  war  and  her  enmity.  (To  James  Monroe,  1823.  C.  VII., 

316.) 

CUBA. — Cuba  alone  seems  at  present  to  hold  up  a  speck  of 
war  to  us.  Its  possession  by  Great  Britain  would  indeed  be  a 
great  calamity  to  us.  Could  we  induce  her  to  join  us  in  guar- 


l86  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

anteeing  its  independence  against  all  the  world,  except  Spain,  it 
would  be  nearly  as  valuable  to  us  as  if  it  were  our  own.  But 
should  she  take  it,  I  would  not  immediately  go  to  war  for  it; 
because  the  first  war  on  other  accounts  will  give  it  to  us;  or  the 
island  will  give  itself  to  us,  when  able  to  do  so.  (To  James 
Monroe,  1823.  C.  VII.,  288.) 

^  DEBT. — Whether  one  generation  of  men  has  a  right  to  bind 
another  is  a  question  of  such  consequence  as  not  only  to  merit 
decision,  but  place  also*,  among  the  fundamental  principles  of 
every  government.    That  no  such  obligation  can  be  transmitted 
I  think  very  capable  of  proof.    I  set  out  on  this  ground  which  I 
suppose  to  be  self-evident:   that  the  earth  belongs  in  usufruct 
to  the  living,  that  the  dead  have  neither  right  nor  power  over  it. 
The  portion  occupied  by  any  individual  ceases  to  be  his  when 
himself  ceases  to  be,  and  reverts  to  the  society.    If  the  society 
has  formed  no  rules  for  the  appropriation  of  its  lands  in  sever- 
alty,  it  will  be  taken  by  the  first  occupants.    These  will  generally 
be  the  wife  and  children  of  the  decedent.    If  they  have  formed 
rules  of  appropriation,  those  rules  may  give  it  to  the  wife  and 
children,  or  to  some  of  them,  or  to  the  legatee  of  the  deceased.^ 
So  they  may  give  it  to  his  creditors.    But  the  child,  the  legatee 
or  creditor  take  it,  not  by  any  natural  right,  but  by  a  law  of  the 
society  of  which  they  are  members,  and  to  which  they  are  sub 
ject.     Then  no  man  can  by  natural  right  oblige  the  lands  he- 
occupied,  or  the  persons  who'  succeed  him  in  that  occupation,, 
to  the  payment  of  debts  contracted  by  him.     For  if  he  coulc^,, 
he  might  during  his  own  life  eat  up  the  usufruct  of  the  lands  for 
several  generations  to  come,  and  then  the  lands  would  belong  to 
the  dead  and  not  to  the  living  which  is  the  reverse  of  the  prin 
ciple.    What  is  true  of  every  member  of  the  society  individually, 
is  true  of  them  all  collectively,  since  the  rights  of  the  whole 
can  be  no  more  than  the  sum  of  the  rights  of  individuals.  Then 
no  generation  can  contract  debts  greater  than  may  be  paid 
during  the  course  of  its  own  existence.     *     *     *     Nineteen^ 
years  is  the  term  beyond  which  neither  the  representatives  of  a! 
nation  nor  even  the  whole  nation  itself,  can  validly  extend  a ! 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  187 

debt.  (Written  to  James  Madison  from  Paris,  1789.  F.  V., 
116.) 

DEBT,  NATIONAL. — We  are  ruined,  Sir,  if  we  do  not  overrule 
the  principles  that  "the  more  we  owe,  the  more  prosperous  we 
shall  be,"  that  a  public  debt  furnishes  the  means  of  enter 
prise,  that  if  ours  should  be  once  paid  off,  we  should  incur 
another  by  any  means  however  extravagant,  etc.  (From  a  letter 
to  James  Madison,  1791.  F.  V.,  320.) 

DEBT,  PUBLIC. — There  can  never  be  a  fear  but  that  the  paper 
which  represents  the  public  debt  will  be  ever  sacredly  good.  The 
public  faith  is  bound  for  this,  and  no  change  of  system  will  ever 
be  permitted  to  touch  this.  The  evidences  of  the  public  debt 
are  solid  and  sacred.  I  presume  there  is  not  a  man  in  the 
United  States  who  would  not  part  with  his  last  shilling  to  pay 
them.  (To  William  Short,  1792.  F.  V.,  460.) 

DEBT,  PUBLIC. — A  further  assumption  of  State  debts  has  been 
proposed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  which  has  been 
rejected  by  a  small  majority:  but  the  chickens  of  the  treasury 
have  so  many  contrivances  and  are  so  indefatigable  within  doors 
and  without,  that  we  all  fear  that  they  will  get  it  in  yet  some 
way  or  other.  As  the  doctrine  is  that  a  public  debt  is  a  public 
blessing,  so  they  think  a  perpetual  one  is  a  perpetual  blessing 
and  therefore  wish  to  make  it  so  large  that  we  can  never  pay  it 
off.  (To  Nicholas  Lewis,  1792.  F.  V.,  505.) 

DEBT,  PUBLIC. — My  whole  correspondence  while  in  France, 
and  every  word  and  letter  and  act  on  the  subject  since  my 
return  prove  that  no  man  is  more  ardently  intent  to  see  the 
public  debt  soon  and  sacredly  paid  off  than  I  am.  This  exactly 
marks  the  difference  between  Colonel  Hamilton's  views  and 
mine,  that  I  would  wish  the  debt  paid  to-morrow;  he  wishes  it 
never  to  be  paid,  but  always  to  be  a  thing  wherewith  to  corrupt 
and  manage  the  Legislature.  (To  Washington,  1792.  F.  VI., 

105.) 

DEBT,  PUBLIC. — I  consider  the  fortunes  of  our  republic  as 
depending,  in  an  imminent  degree,  on  the  extinguishment  of 
the  public  debt  before  we  engage  in  any  war;  because,  that 
done,  we  shall  have  revenue  enough  to  improve  our  country 


188  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

in  peace  and  defend  it  in  war  without  recurring  to  new  taxes  or 
loans.  But  if  the  debt  should  once  more  be  swelled  to  a  for 
midable  size,  its  entire  discharge  will  be  despaired  of,  and  we 
shall  be  committed  to  the  English  career  of  debt,  corruption 
and  rottenness,  closing  with  revolution.  The  discharge  of  the 
debt,  therefore,  is  vital  to  the  destinies  of  our  government.  (To 
Albert  Gallatin,  1809.  C.  V.,  477.) 

DEBT,  PUBLIC. — It  is  a  wise  rule,  and  should  be  fundamental 
in  a  government  disposed  to  cherish  its  credit,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  restrain  the  use  of  it  w'ithin  the  limits  of  its  faculties, 
"never  to  borrow  a  dollar  without  laying,  a  tax  in  the  same 
instant  for  paying  the  interest  annually,  and  the  principal  within 
a  given  term;  and  to  consider  that  tax  as  pledged  to  the 
creditors  on  the  public  faith."  On  such  a  pledge  as  this, 
sacredly  observed,  a  government  may  always  command,  on  a 
reasonable  interest,  all  the  lendable  money  of  its  citizens, 
while  the  necessity  of  an  equivalent  tax  is  a  salutary  warning  to 
them  and  their  constituents  against  oppressions,  bankruptcy, 
and  its  inevitable  consequence,  revolution.  But  the  term  of 
redemption  must  be  moderate,  and  at  any  rate  within  the  limits 
of  their  rightful  powers.  But  what  limits,  it  will  be  asked,  does 
this  prescribe  to  their  powers?  What  is  to  hinder  them  from 
creating  a  perpetual  debt?  The  laws  of  nature,  I  answer.  The 
earth  belongs  to  the  living,  not  to  the  dead.  The  will  and  the 
power  of  man  expire  with  his  life,  by  nature's  law.  Soma* 
societies  give  it  an  artificial  continuance,  for  the  encouragement 
of  industry;  some  refuse  it,  as  our  aboriginal  neighbors,  whom 
we  call  barbarians.  The  generations  of  men  may  be  considered 
as  bodies  or  corporations.  Each  generation  has  the  usufruct 
of  the  earth  during  the  period  of  its  continuance.  When  it 
ceases  to  exist,  the  usufruct  passes  on  to  the  succeeding  genera 
tion,  free  and  unencumbered,  and  so  on,  successively,  from  one 
generation  to  another  forever.  We  may  consider  each  genera 
tion  as  a  distinct  nation,  with  a  right,  by  the  will  of  its  majority, 
to  bind  themselves,  but  none  to  bind  the  succeeding  generation, 
more  than  the  inhabitants  of  another  country.  Or  the  case 
may  be  likened  to  the  ordinary  one  of  a  tenant  for  life,  who 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  189 

may  hypothecate  the  land  for  his  debts,  during  the  continuance 
of  his  usufruct;  but  at  his  death,  the  reversioner  (who  is  also 
for  life  only)  receives  it  exonerated  from  all  burthen.  The 
period  of  a  generation,  or  the  term  of  its  life,  is  determined  by 
the  laws  of  mortality,  which,  varying  a  little  only  in  different 
climates,  offer  a  general  average,  to  be  found  by  observation. 
I  turn,  for  instance,  to  Buffon's  tables,  of  twenty-three  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  ninety-four  deaths,  and  the  ages  at  which 
they  happened,  and  I  find  that  of  the  numbers  of  all  ages  living 
at  one  moment,  half  will  be  dead  in  twenty-four  years  and  eight 
months.  But  (leaving  out  minors,  who  have  not  the  power  of 
self-government)  of  the  adults  (of  twenty-one  years  of  age)  liv 
ing  at  one  moment,  a  majority  of  whom  act  for  the  society,  one- 
half  will  be  dead  in  eighteen  years  and  eight  months.  At  nine 
teen  years  then  from  the  date  of  a  contract,  the  majority  of  the 
contractors  are  dead,  and  their  contract  with  them.  Let  this 
general  theory  be  applied  to  a  particular  case.  Suppose  the 
annual  births  of  the  State  of  New  York  to  be  twenty-three  thou 
sand  nine  hundred  and  ninety-four,  the  \vhole  number  of  its 
inhabitants,  according  to  Buffon,  will  be  six  hundred  and  seven 
teen  thousand  seven  hundred  and  three,  of  all  ages.  Of  these 
there  would  constantly  be  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  thousand 
two  hundred  and  eighty-six  minors,  and  three  hundred  and 
forty-eight  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventeen  adults,  of 
which  last,  one  hundred  and  seventy-four  thousand  two  hun 
dred  and  nine  will  be  a  majority.  Suppose  that  majority,  on 
the  first  day  of  the  year  1794,  had  borrowed  a  sum  of  money 
equal  to  the  fee-simple  value  of  the  State,  and  to  have  consumed 
it  in  eating  and  drinking  and  making  merry  in  their  day;  or, 
if  you  please,  in  quarreling  and  fighting  with  their  unoffending 
neighbors.  Within  eighteen  years  and  eight  months,  one-half 
of  the  adult  citizens  were  dead.  Till  then,  being  the  majority, 
they  might  rightfully  levy  the  interest  of  their  debt  annually 
on  themselves  and  their  fellow-revellers,  or  fellow-champions. 
But,  at  that  period,  say  at  this  moment,  a  new  majority  have 
come  into  place,  in  their  own  right,  and  not  under  the  rights, 
the  conditions,  or  laws  of  their  predecessors.  Are  they  bound 


IQO  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

to  acknowledge  the  debt,  to  consider  the  preceding  generation 
as  having  had  a  right  to  eat  up  the  whole  soil  of  their  country, 
in  the  course  of  a  life,  to  alienate  it  from  them  (for  it  would  be 
an  alienation  to  the  creditors),  and  would  they  think  themselves 
either  legally  or  morally  bound  to  give  up  their  country  and 
emigrate  to  another  for  subsistence?  Every  one  will  say  no; 
that  the  soil  is  thei  gift  of  God  to  the  living,  as  much  as  it  hacrw 
been  to  the  deceased  generation;  and  that  the  laws  of  nature 
impose  no  obligation  on  them  to  pay  this  debt.  And  although, 
like  some  other  natural  rights,  this  has  not  yet  entered  into  any 
declaration  of  rights,  it  is  no  less  a  law,  and  ought  to  be  acted  on 
by  honest  governments.  It  is,  at  the  same  time,  a  salutary 
curb  on  the  spirit  of  war  and  indebtment,  which,  since  the 
modern  theory  of  the  perpetuation  of  debt,  has  drenched  the 
earth  with  blood,  and  crushed  its  inhabitants  under  burthens 
ever  accumulating.  Had  this  principle  been  declared  in  the 
British  bill  of  rights,  England  would  have  been  placed  under 
the  happy  disability  of  waging  eternal  war,  and  of  contracting 
her  thousand  millions  of  public  debt.  In  seeking,  then,  for  an 
ultimate  term  for  the  redemption  of  our  debts,  let  us  rally  to 
this  principle,  and  provide  for  their  payment  within  the  term  of 
nineteen  years  at  the  farthest.  (To  J.  W.  Eppes,  1813.  C.  VI., 
136-138.) 

DEMOCRACY. — The  influence  over  government  must  be  shared 
by  all  the  people.  If  every  individual  which  composes  their  mass 
participates  of  the  ultimate  authority,  the  government  will  be 
safe;  because  the  corrupting  the  whole  mass  will  exceed  any 
private  resources  of  wealth;  and  public  ones  cannot  be  provided 
but  by  levies  on  the  whole  people.  In  this  case  every  man 
would  have  to  pay  his  own  price.  *  *  *  It  has  been 
thought  that  corruption  is  restrained  by  confining  the  right  of 
suffrage  to  a  few  of  the  wealthier  people;  but  it  would  be  more 
effectually  restrained  by  an  extension  of  that  right  to  such 
numbers  as  would  bid  defiance  to  means  of  corruption.  (From 
"Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  255.) 

DEMOCRACY. — There  is  a  snail-paced  gait  for  the  advance  of 
new  ideas  in  the  general  mind,  under  which  we  must  acquiesce. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  IQI 

A  forty  years'  experience  of  popular  assemblies  has  taught  me 
that  you  must  give  them  time  for  every  step  they  take.  If  too 
hard  pushed  they  balk,  and  the  machine  retrogrades.  (To  Joel 
Barlow,  1807.  C.  V.,  217.) 

DEMOCRACY. — We  of  the  United  States,  you  know,  are  con 
stitutionally  and  conscientiously  Democrats.  We  consider 
society  as  one  of  the  natural  wants  with  which  man  has  been 
created;  that  he  has  been  endowed  with  faculties  and  qualities 
to  effect  its  satisfaction  by  occurrence  of  others  having  the  same 
want;  that  when,  by  the  exercise  of  these  faculties,  he  has  pro 
cured  a  state  of  society,  it  is  one  of  his  acquisitions  which  he 
has  a  right  to  regulate  and  control,  jointly  indeed  with  all  those 
who  have  concurred  in  the  procurement,  whom  he  cannot  ex 
clude  from  its  use  or  direction  more  than  they  him.  We  think 
experience  has  proved  it  safer,  for  the  mass  of  individuals  com 
posing  the  society,  to  reserve  to  themselves  personally  the 
exercise  of  all  rightful  powers  to  which  they  are  competent,  and 
to  delegate  those  to  which  they  are  not  competent  to  deputies 
named,  and  removable  for  unfaithful  conduct,  by  themselves 
immediately.  Hence,  with  us,  the  people  (by  which  is  meant  the 
mass  of  individuals  composing  the  society)  being  competent  to 
judge  of  the  facts  occurring  in  ordinary  life,  they  have  retained 
the  functions  to  judges  of  facts,  under  the  name  of  jurors;  but 
being  unqualified  for  the  management  of  affairs  requiring  intelli 
gence  above  the  common  level,  yet  competent  judges  of  human 
character,  they  chose,  for  their  management,  representatives, 
some  by  themselves  immediately,  others  by  electors  chosen  by 
themselves.  Thus  our  President  is  chosen  by  ourselves,  directly 
in  practice,  for  we  vote  for  A  as  elector  only  on  the  condition 
he  will  vote  for  B,  our  representative  by  ourselves  immediately, 
our  Senate  and  judges  of  law  through  electors  chosen  by  our 
selves.  And  we  believe  that  this  proximate  choice  and  power 
of  removal  is  the  best  security  which  experience  has  sanctioned 
for  ensuring  an  honest  conduct  in  the  functionaries  of  society. 
(To  Dupont  de  Nemours,  1816.  C.  VI,  589.) 

DEMOCRACY. — The  introduction  of  this  new  principle  of  repre 
sentative  Democracy  has  rendered  useless  almost  everything 


192  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

written  before  on  the  structure  of  government;  and,  in  a  great 
measure,  relieves  our  regret,  if  the  political  writings  of  Aristotle, 
or  of  any  other  ancient,  have  been  lost,  or  are  unfaithfully  ren 
dered  or  explained  to  us.  My  most  earnest  wish  is  to  see  the 
Republican  element  of  popular  control  pushed  to  the  maximum 
of  its  practicable  exercise.  I  shall  then  believe  that  our  Gov 
ernment  may  be  pure  and  perpetual.  (To  Isaac  H.  Tiffany, 
1816.  C.  VIL,  32.) 

DEVICE. — A  proper  device  (instead  of  arms)  for  the  American 
States  would  be  the  father  presenting  the  bundle  of  rods  to 
his  son,  with  the  motto, 

"Insuperabiles  si  inseparables" 

(Proposed  arms  for  the  United  States,  interesting  as  being  the 
earliest  reference  to  the  "American  States."  Written  in  Jeffer 
son's  copy  of  the  Virginia  Almanac  for  1774.) 

DISSENSION. — Political  dissension  is  doubtless  a  less  evil  than 
the  lethargy  of  despotism,  but  still  it  is  a  great  evil,  and  it  would 
be  as  worthy  the  efforts  of  the  patriot  as  of  the  philosopher  to 
exclude  its  influence  if  possible  from  social  life.  The  good  are 
rare  enough  at  best.  There  is  no  reason  to  sub-divide  them  by 
artificial  lines.  But  whether  we  shall  ever  be  able  to  perfect 
the  principles  of  society  as  that  political  opinions  shall  be  as 
inoffensive  as  those  of  philosophy,  mechanics,  or  any  other  may 
well  be  doubted.  (From  a  letter  to  Thomas  Pinckney,  1792. 
F.  VIL,  128.) 

DISUNION,  DANGER  OF. — I  can  scarcely  contemplate  a  more 
incalculable  evil  than  the  breaking  of  the  Union  into  two  or 
more  parts.  Yet  when  we  review  the  mass  which  opposed  the 
original  coalescence,  when  we  consider  that  it  lay  chiefly  in  the 
Southern  quarter,  that  the  Legislature  have  availed  themselves 
of  no  occasion  of  allaying  it,  whenever  Northern  and  Southern 
prejudices  have  come  into  conflict,  the  latter  have  been  sacri 
ficed  and  the  former  soothed;  that  the  owners  of  the  debt  are 
in  the  Southern  and  the  holders  of  it  in  the  Northern  division; 
that  the  anti-federal  champions  are  now  strengthened  in  argu 
ment  by  the  fulfilment  of  their  predictions,  that  this  has  been 
brought  about  by  the  Monarchical  Federalists  themselves,  who, 


OF  THOMAS   JEFFERSON  193 

having  been  for  the  new  government  merely  as  a  stepping  stone 
to  monarchy,  have  themselves  adopted  the  very  constructions 
of  the  Constitution  of  which,  when  advocating  its  acceptance 
before  the  tribunal  of  the  people,  they  declared  it  insusceptible: 
that  the  Republican  Federalists,  who  espoused  the  same  govern 
ment  for  its  intrinsic  merits,  are  disarmed  of  their  weapons,  that 
which  they  deemed  as  prophecy  being  now  become  true  history; 
who  can  be  sure  that  these  things  may  not  proselyte  the  small 
number  which  was  wanting  to  place  the  majority  on  the  other 
side?  And  this  is  the  event  at  which  I  tremble,  and  to  prevent 
which  I  consider  your  continuance  at  the  head  of  affairs  as  of 
the  last  importance.  The  confidence  of  the  whole  Union  is 
centered  in  you.  Your  being  at  the  helm  will  be  more  than  an 
answer  to  every  argument  which  can  be  used  to  alarm  and  lead 
the  people  in  any  quarter  into  violence  or  secession.  North 
and  South  will  hang  together  if  they  have  you  to  hang  on. 
(To  Washington,  1792.  F.  VI.,  5.) 

DRUNKENNESS. — I  think  drunkenness  is  much  more  common 
in  all  the  American  States  than  in  France.  But  it  is  less  com 
mon  there  than  in  England.  You  may  form  an  idea  from  this 
of  the  state  of  it  in  America.  (Written  from  Paris,  1786.  F. 
IV.,  282.) 

DUELLING. — Whosoever  committeth  murder  by  way  of  duel, 
shall  suffer  death  by  hanging;  and  if  he  were  the  challenger^ 
his  body  after  death,  shall  be  gibbetted.  (From  a  bill  relating 
to  crimes  and  punishments,  1779.  F.  II.,  207.) 

DUTIES. — I  am  much  pleased  to  see  that  you  have  taken  tip 
the  subject  of  the  duty  on  imported  books.  I  hope  a  crusade  will 
be  kept  up  against  it,  until  those  in  power  shall  become  sensible 
of  this  stain  on  our  legislation,  and  shall  wipe  it  from  their 
code  and  from  the  remembrance  of  men,  if  possible.  (To  J^red 
Sparks,  1824.  C.  VII.,  335-) 

ECONOMY. — When  we  consider  that  this  government  is 
charged  with  the  external  and  mutual  relations  only  of  these 
States;  that  the  States  themselves  have  principal  care  of  persons, 
our  property,  and  our  reputation,  constituting  the  great  field 
of  human  concerns,  we  may  well  doubt  whether  our  orgauiza- 


194  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

tion  is  not  too  complicated,  too  expensive;  whether  offices  or 
officers  have  not  been  multiplied  unnecessarily,  and  sometimes 
injuriously  to  the  service  they  were  meant  to  promote.  I 
will  cause  to  be  laid  before  you  an  essay  toward  a  statement 
of  those  who,  under  public  employment  of  various  kinds,  drew 
money  from  the  treasury  or  from  our  citizens.  Time  has  not 
permitted  a  perfect  enumeration,  the  ramifications  of  office  be 
ing  too  multiplied  and  remote  to  be  completely  traced  in  a  first 
trial.  Among-  those  who  are  dependent  on  executive  discre 
tion,  I  have  begun  the  reduction  of  what  was  deemed  necessary. 
The  expenses  of  diplomatic  agency  have  been  considerably  di 
minished.  The  inspectors  of  internal  revenue  who  were  found 
to  obstruct  the  accountability  of  the  institution,  have  been 
discontinued.  Several  agencies  created  by  executive  authority, 
on  salaries  fixed  by  that  also,  have  been  suppressed,  and  should 
suggest  the  expediency  of  regulating  that  power  by  law,  so  as 
to  subject  its  exercises  to  legislative  inspection  and  sanction. 
*  #  *  Considering  the  general  tendency  to  multiply  offices 
and  dependencies,  and  to  increase  expense  to  the  ultimate  term 
of  burden  which  the  citizen  can  bear,  it  behooves  us  to  avail 
ourselves  of  every  occasion  which  presents  itself  for  taking  off 
the  surcharge;  that  it  may  never  be  seen  here  that,  after  leaving 
to  labor  the  smallest  portion  of  its  earnings  on  which  it  can  sub 
sist,  Government  shall  itself  consume  the  residue  of  what  it 
was  instituted  to  guard.  (From  first  Annual  Message,  1801. 
F.  VIII.,  120.) 

EDUCATION. — At  every  of  these  schools,  district  or  hundred, 
shall  be  taught  reading,  writing,  and  common  arithmetic,  and 
the  books  which  shall  be  used  therein  for  instructing  the  chil 
dren  to  read  shall  be  such  as  will  at  the  same  time  make  them 
acquainted  with  Grecian,  Roman,  English,  and  American  his 
tory.  At  these  schools  all  the  free  children  male  and  female, 
resident  within  the  respective  hundred  shall  be  entitled  to  re 
ceive  tuition  gratis,  for  the  term  of  three  years,  and  as  much 
longer,  at  their  private  expense,  as  their  parents,  guardians,  or 
friends  shall  think  proper.  (From  a  bill  for  the  Diffusion  of 
Knowledge,  1779.  F.  II.,  223.) 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  195 

EDUCATION. — It  is  generally  true  that  people  will  be  happiest 
where  laws  are  best  administered,  and  that  laws  will  be  wisely 
formed,  and  honestly  administered,  in  proportion  as  those  who 
form  and  administer  them  are  wise  and  honest;  whence  it  be 
comes  expedient  for  promoting-  public  happiness  that  those 
persons,  whom  nature  hath  endowed  with  genius  and  virtue, 
should  be  rendered  by  liberal  education  worthy  to  receive,  and 
able  to  guard,  the  sacred  deposit  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
their  fellow  citizens,  and  that  they  should  be  called  to  that 
charge  without  regard  to  wealth,  birth  or  other  accidental  cir 
cumstance;  but  the  indigence  of  the  greater  number  disabling 
them  from  so  educating,  at  their  own  expense,  those  of  their 
children  whom  nature  hath  fitly  formed  and  disposed  to  be 
come  useful  instruments  for  the  public,  it  is  better  that  such 
should  be  sought  for  and  educated  at  the  common  expense  of  all, 
than  that  the  happiness  of  all  should  be  confined  to  the  weak 
or  wicked.  (From  a  bill  for  the  Diffusion  of  Knowledge,  1779. 
F.  II.,  221.) 

EDUCATION. — Instead,  therefore,  of  putting  the  Bible  and  Tes 
tament  into  the  hands  of  children  at  an  age  when  their  judgments 
are  not  sufficiently  matured  for  religious  inquiries,  their  mem 
ories  may  here  be  stored  writh  the  most  useful  facts  from 
Grecian,  Roman,  European,  and  American  history.  The  first 
element  of  morality  too  may  be  instilled  into  their  minds;  such 
as  may  teach  them  how  to  work  out  their  greatest  happiness, 
by  showing  them  that  it  does  not  depend  on  the  condition 
of  life  in  which  chance  has  placed  them,  but  is  always  the  result 
of  a  good  conscience,  good  health,  occupation,  and  freedom  in 
all  just  pursuits.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III., 

253.) 

EDUCATION. — The  learning  Greek  and  Latin,  I  am  told,  is 
going  into  disuse  in  Europe.  I  know  not  what  their  manners 
and  occupations  may  call  for;  but  it  would  be  very  ill-judged  in 
us  to  follow  their  example  in  this  instance.  There  is  a  certain 
period  of  life,  say  from  eight  to  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of 
age.  when  the  mind,  like  the  body,  is  not  yet  firm  enough  for 
laborious  and  close  operations.  *  *  *  The  memory  is  then 


196  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

most  susceptible  and  tenacious  of  impressions;  and  the  learning* 
of  languages  being  chiefly  a  work  of  memory,  it  seems  precisely 
fitted  to  the  power  of  this  period,  which  is  long  enough,  too, 
for  acquiring  the  most  useful  languages,  ancient  and  modern. 
(From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  253.) 

EDUCATION. — By  that  part  of  our  plan  which  prescribes  the 
selection  of  the  youths  of  genius  from  among  the  classes  of  the 
poor,  we  hope  to  avail  the  State  of  those  talents  which  nature 
has  sown  so  liberally  among  the  poor  as  the  rich,  but  which 
perish  without  use,  if  not  sought  for  and  cultivated.  (From 
"Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  254.) 

EDUCATION. — But  why  send  an  American  youth  to  Europe 
for  education?  What  are  the  objects  of  useful  American  edu 
cation?  Classical  knowledge,  modern  languages,  chiefly  French, 
Spanish  and  Italian,  mathematics,  natural  philosophy,  natural 
history,  civil  history,  and  ethics.  In  natural  philosophy 
I  mean  to  include  chemistry  and  agriculture,  and  in  natural 
history,  to  include  botany,  as  well  as  other  branches  of  these 
departments.  It  is  true  that  the  habit  of  speaking  the  modern 
languages  cannot  be  so  well  acquired  in  America;  but  every 
other  article  can  be  as  well  acquired  at  William  and  Mary  Col 
lege  as  at  any  place  in  Europe.  When  college  education  is  done 
with  and  a  young  man  is  to  prepare  himself  for  public  life,  he 
must  cast  his  eyes  (for  America)  either  on  law  or  physics.  For 
the  former  where  can  he  apply  so  advantageously  as  to  Mr. 
Wythe?  For  the  latter  he  must  come  to  Europe;  the  medical 
class  of  students,  therefore,  is  the  only  one  which  need  come  to 
Europe.  Let  us  view  the  disadvantages  of  sending  a  youth  to 
Europe.  To  enumerate  them  all  would  require  a  volume.  I 
will  select  a  few.  If  he  goes  to  Europe  he  learns  drinking, 
horse-racing  and  boxing.  These  are  the  peculiarities  of  English 
education.  The  following  circumstances  are  common  to  edu 
cation  in  that  and  the  other  countries  of  Europe.  He  acquires 
a  fondness  for  European  luxury  and  dissipation,  and  a  contempt 
for  the  simplicity  of  his  own  country;  he  is  fascinated  with  the 
privileges  of  the  European  aristocrats,  and  sees  with  abhorrence 
the  lowly  equality  which  the  poor  enjoy  with  the  rich  in  his  own 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  197 

country;  he  contracts  a  partiality  for  aristocracy  or  monarchy; 
he  forms  foreign  friendships  which  will  never  be  useful  to  him, 
and  loses  the  seasons  of  life  for  forming  in  his  own  country  those 
friendships  which  of  all  others,  are  the  most  faithful  and  perma 
nent;  he  is  led  by  the  strongest  of  all  human  passions  into  a 
spirit  for  female  intrigue,  destructive  of  his  own  and  others' 
happiness,  or  a  passion  for  whores,  destructive  of  his  health, 
and  in  both  cases,  learns  to  consider  fidelity  to  the  marriage 
bed  as  an  ungentlemanly  practice  and  inconsistent  with  happi 
ness;  he  recollects  the  voluptuary  dress  and  acts  of  the  European 
women,  and  pities  and  despises  the  chaste  affections  and  sim 
plicity  of  those  of  his  own  country;  he  retains  through  life  a  fond 
recollection  and  a  hankering  after  those  places  which  were  the 
scenes  of  his  first  pleasures  and  of  his  first  connections;  he  re 
turns  to  his  own  country  a  foreigner,  unacquainted  with  the 
practices  of  domestic  economy  necessary  to  preserve  him  from 
ruin,  speaking  and  writing  his  native  tongue  as  a  foreigner  and 
therefore  unqualified  to  obtain  those  distinctions  which  elo 
quence  of  the  pen  and  tongue  ensures  in  a  free  country;  for  I 
would  observe  to  you  that  what  is  called  style  in  writing  or 
speaking  is  formed  very  early  in  life,  while  the  imagination  is 
warm  and  impressions  are  permanent.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
there  never  was  an  instance  of  a  man's  writing  or  speaking  his 
native  tongue  with  eloquence  who  passed  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
years  of  age  out  of  the  country  where  it  was  spoken.  Then  no 
instance  exists  of  a  person  writing  two  languages  perfectly.  That 
will  always  appear  to  be  his  native  language  which  was  most 
familiar  to  him  in  his  youth.  It  appears  to  me,  then,  that  an 
American  coming  to  Europe  for  education  loses  in  his  knowl 
edge,  in  his  morals,  in  his  health,  in  his  habits  and  in  his  happi 
ness.  (To  J.  Banister,  1785.  C.  L,  467.) 

EDUCATION. — If  all  the  sovereigns  of  Europe  were  to  set  them 
selves  to  work  to  emancipate  the  minds  of  their  subjects  from 
their  present  ignorance  and  prejudices,  and  that  as  zealously 
as  they  now  endeavor  to  the  contrary,  a  thousand  years  would 
not  place  them  on  that  high  ground  on  which  our  common 
people  are  now  setting  out.  Ours  could  not  have  been  so  fairly 


198  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

put  into  the  hands  of  their  own  common  sense  had  they  not  been 
separated  from  their  parent  stock  and  kept  from  contamination, 
either  from  them,  or  the  other  people  of  the  old  world,  by  the 
intervention  of  so  wide  an  ocean.  I  think  by  far  the  most  im 
portant  bill  in  our  whole  code  is  that  for  the  diffusion  of  knowl 
edge  among  the  people.  No  other  sure  foundation  can  be  de 
vised  for  the  preservation  of  freedom  and  happiness.  *  *  * 
Preach,  my  dear  sir,  a  crusade  against  ignorance;  establish  and 
improve  the  law  for  educating  the  common  people.  Let  our 
countrymen  know  that  the  people  alone  can  protect  us  against 
those  evils,  and  that  the  tax  which  will  be  paid  for  this  purpose 
is  not  more  than  the  thousandth  part  of  what  will  be  paid  to 
kings,  priests,  and  nobles  who  will  rise  up  among  us  if  we  leave 
the  people  in  ignorance.  (Written  from  Paris  to  George  Wythe, 
1786.  F.  IV.,  268.) 

EDUCATION. — The  foundations  you  have  laid  in  languages  and 
mathematics  are  proper  for  every  superstructure.  The  former 
exercises  our  memory  while  that  and  no  other  faculty  is  yet 
matured  and  prevents  our  acquiring  habits  of  idleness.  The  lat 
ter  gives  exercise  to  our  reason,  as  soon  as  that  has  acquired  a 
certain  degree  of  strength,  and  stores  the  mind  with  truths 
which  are  useful  in  other  branches  of  science.  At  this  moment 
then  a  second  order  of  preparation  is  to  commence.  I  shall 
propose  to*  you  that  be  extensive,  comprehending  astronomy, 
natural  philosophy  (or  physics),  natural  history,  anatomy, 
botany  and  chemistry.  No  inquisitive  mind  will  be  content 
to  be  ignorant  of  any  of  these  branches.  (To  Thomas  Mann 
Randolph,  Jr.,  1786.  F.  IV.,  290.) 

EDUCATION. — Above  all  things  I  hope  the  education  of  the 
common  people  will  be  attended  to;  convinced  that  on  their 
good  sense  we  may  rely  with  the  most  security  for  the  preserva 
tion  of  a  due  degree  of  liberty.  (To  James  Madison,  1787. 
F.  IV.,  480.) 

EDUCATION. — In  truth  if  anything  could  ever  induce  me  to 
sleep  another  night  out  of  my  own  house  it  would  have  been 
*  *  *  my  solicitude  for  the  education  of  our  youth.  I  do 
most  anxiously  wish  to  see  the  highest  degrees  of  education 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON 

given  to  the  highest  degrees  of  genius,  and  to  all  degrees  of  it, 
so  much  as  may  enable  them  to  read  and  understand  what  is 
going  on  in  the  world,  and  to  keep  their  part  of  it  going  on 
right;  for  nothing  can  keep  it  right  but  their  own  vigilant  and 
distrustful  superintendence.  (To  Mann  Page,  1795.  F.  VIL, 

24.) 

EDUCATION. — About  twenty  years  ago  I  drew  up  a  bill  for  our 
legislature  which  proposed  to  lay  off  every  county  into  hun 
dreds  or  townships  of  five  or  six  miles  square  in  the  centre  of  each 
of  which  was  to  be  a  free  English  school;  the  whole  State  was 
further  laid  off  into  ten  districts  in  each  of  which  was  to  be  a 
college  for  teaching  two  languages,  geography,  surveying  and 
other  useful  things  of  that  grade;  and  then  a  single  university  for 
the  sciences.  (To  Joseph  Priestly,  1800.  F.  VIL,  414.) 

EDUCATION. — I  look  to  the  diffusion  of  light  and  education  as 
the  resource  most  to  be  relied  on  for  ameliorating  the  condi 
tion,  promoting  the  virtue,  and  advancing  the  happiness  of  man. 
That  every  man  shall  be  made  virtuous,  by  any  process  what 
ever,  is,  indeed,  no  more  to  be  expected,  than  that  every  tree 
shall  be  made  to  bear  fruit,  and  every  plant  nourishment.  The 
brier  and  the  bramble  can  never  become  the  vine  and  the  olive; 
but  their  asperities  may  be  softened  by  culture,  and  their  prop 
erties  improved  to  usefulness  in  the  order  and  economy  of  the 
world.  (To  C.  C.  Blatchley,  1822.  C.  VIL,  263.) 

EDUCATION. — I  am  now  entirely  absorbed  in  endeavors  to 
effect  the  establishment  of  a  general  system  of  education  in  my 
native  State  on  the  triple  basis  (i)  of  elementary  schools  which 
shall  give  to  the  children  of  every  citizen  gratis  competent 
instruction  in  reading,  writing,  common  arithmetic  and  gen 
eral  geography.  (2)  Collegiate  institutions  for  ancient  and 
modern  languages,  for  higher  instruction  in  arithmetic,  geog 
raphy  and  history,  placing  for  this  purpose  a  college  within  a 
day's  ride  of  every  inhabitant  of  the  State  and  adding  a  provision 
for  the  full  education  at  the  public  expense  of  select  subjects 
from  among  the  children  of  the  poor  who  shall  have  exhibited 
at  the  elementary  schools  the  most  pronounced  indication  of 
aptness  of  judgment  and  correct  disposition.  (3)  An  university 


200  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

in  which  all  the  branches  of  science  deemed  useful  at  this  day 
shall  be  taught  in  their  highest  degree.  This  would  probably 
require  ten  or  twelve  professors  for  most  of  whom  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  apply  to  Europe,  and  most  likely  to  Edinburg. 
*  *  *  This  establishment  will  most  probably  be  within  a 
mile  of  Charlottesville  and  four  from  Monticello  if  the  system 
should  be  adopted  at  all  by  our  Legislature  who  meet  within  a 
week  from  this  time.  My  hopes,  however,  are  kept  in  check  by 
the  ordinary  character  of  our  State  Legislature,  the  members 
of  which  do  not  generally  possess  information  enough  to  per 
ceive  the  important  truths  that  knowledge  is  power,  that  knowl 
edge  is  safety  and  that  knowledge  is  happiness.  (To  George 
Tickner,  1817.  F.  X.,  96.) 

ELECTION  OF  PRESIDENT. — I  have  been  above  all  things  solaced 
by  the  prospect  which  opened  on  us  in  the  event  of  a  non- 
election  of  a  President;  in  which  case  the  Federal  Government 
would  have  been  in  the  situation  of  a  clock  or  watch  run  down. 
There  was  no  idea  of  force,  nor  of  any  occasion  for  it.  A  con 
vention  invited  by  the  Republican  members  of  Congress  with 
the  virtual  President  and  Vice-President  would  have  been  on  the 
ground  in  eight  weeks  and  would  have  repaired  the  Constitution 
where  it  was  defective,  and  wound  it  up  again.  This  peaceable 
and  legitimate  resource,  to  which  we  are  in  the  habit  of  implicit 
obedience  superseding  all  appeal  to  force  and  being  always 
within  our  reach,  shows  a  precious  principle  of  self-preservation 
in  our  composition,  till  a  change  of  circumstances  shall  take 
place  which  is  not  within  prospect  of  any  definite  period.  (To 
Joseph  Priestly,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  22.) 

ELECTIONS. — From  a  very  early  period  of  my  life  I  determined 
never  to  intermeddle  with  elections  of  the  people,  and  have 
invariably  adhered  to  this  determination.  Tn  my  own  county, 
where  there  have  been  so  many  elections  in  which  my  inclina 
tions  were  enlisted,  I  yet  never  interfered.  (From  a  letter  to 
Chas.  Clay,  1792.  F.  VI.,  in.) 

ELECTIONS. — I  proposed  soon  after  coming  into  office  to  en 
join  the  executive  officers  from  intermeddling  with  elections 
as  inconsistent  with  the  true  principles  of  our  Constitution.  It 


OF   THOMAS  JEFFERSON  2OI 

•was  laid  over  for  consideration;  but  late  occurrences  prove  the 
propriety  of  it,  and  it  is  now  under  consideration.  (To  De  Witt 
Clinton,  1804.  F.  VIII.,  322.) 

ELECTIONS,  CONGRESSIONAL. — On  the  subject  of  an  election  by 
a  general  ticket,  or  by  districts,  most  persons  here  seem  to  have 
made  up  their  minds.  All  agree  that  an  election  by  districts 
would  be  best,  if  it  could  be  general;  but  while  ten  States  choose 
either  by  their  legislatures  or  by  a  general  ticket,  it  is  folly 
and  worse  than  folly  for  the  other  six  not  to  do  it.  (To  James 
Monroe,  1800.  F.  VII.,  401.) 

EMANCIPATION. — I  concur  entirely  in  your  leading  principles 
of  gradual  emancipation,  of  establishment  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
and  the  patronage  of  our  Nation  until  the  emigrants  shall  be 
able  to  protect  themselves.  The  subordinate  detail  might  be 
easily  arranged.  But  the  bare  proposition  of  purchase  by  the 
United  States  generally,  would  excite  infinite  indignation  in 
all  the  States  north  of  Maryland.  The  sacrifice  must  fall  on 
the  States  alone  which  hold  them;  and  the  difficult  question 
will  be  how  to  lessen  this  so  as  to  reconcile  our  fellow  citizens 
to  it.  Personally  I  am  ready  and  desirous  to  make  any  sacrifice 
which  shall  ensure  their  gradual  but  complete  retirement  from 
the  State,  and  effectually  at  the  same  time,  establish  them  else 
where  in  freedom  and  safety.  But  I  have  not  perceived  the 
growth  of  this  disposition  in  the  rising  generation,  of  which 
I  once  had  sanguine  hopes.  (To  Dr.  Thomas  Humphreys,  1817. 
C.  VII.,  57-) 

EMANCIPATION. — See  Slavery. 

EMBARGO. — It  is  true  that  the  embargo  laws  have  not  had  all 
the  effect  in  bringing  the  powers  of  Europe  to  a  sense  of  justice 
•which  a  more  faithful  observance  of  them  might  have  produced. 
Yet  they  have  had  the  important  effects  of  saving  our  seamen 
and  property,  of  giving  time  to  prepare  for  defense;  and  they 
;will  produce  the  further  inestimable  advantage  of  turning  the 
attention  and  enterprise  of  our  fellow  citizens,  and  the  patron 
age  of  our  State  Legislatures  to  the  establishment  of  useful 
manufactures  in  our  country.  They  will  have  hastened  the  day 
when  an  equilibrium  between  the  occupations  of  agriculture, 


202  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

manufacture  and  commerce  shall  simplify  our  foreign  concerns 
to  the  exchange  only  of  that  surplus  which  we  cannot  consume 
for  those  articles  of  reasonable  comfort  or  convenience  which 
we  cannot  produce.  (To  a  Democratic  Delegation,  1809.  C. 
VIII.,  163.) 

ENGLAND. — Our  people  and  merchants  must  consider  their 
business  as  not  yet  settled  with  England.  After  exercising  the 
self-denial  which  was  requisite  to  carry  us  through  the  war  they 
must  push  it  a  little  further  to  obtain  proper  peace  arrange 
ments  with  them.  They  can  do  it  all  the  better  as  all  the  world 
is  open  to  them;  and  it  is  very  extraordinary  if  the  whole  world 
besides  cannot  supply  them  with  what  they  want.  I  think 
it  essential  to  exclude  them  from  the  carriage  of  American  prod 
uce.  (Written  from  Paris  to  James  Monroe,  1785.  F.  IV., 
40.) 

ENGLAND. — In  spite  of  treaties,  England  is  still  our  enemy. 
Her  hatred  is  deep  rooted  and  cordial,  and  nothing  is  wanted 
with  her  but  the  power  to  wipe  us  and  the  land  we  live  on  out 
of  existence.  Her  interest,  however,  is  her  ruling  passion; 
and  the,  late  American  measures  have  struck  at  that  so  vitally, 
and  with  an  energy,  too,  of  which  she  thought  us  quite  in 
capable,  that  a  possibility  seems  to  open  of  forming  some  ar 
rangement  with  her  when  they  shall  see  decidedly,  that,  with 
out  it  we  shall  suppress  their  commerce  with  us,  they  will  be 
agitated  by  their  avarice,  on  the  one  hand,  and  their  hatred 
and  their  fear  of  us  on  the  other.  The  result  of  this  conflict  of 
dirty  passion  is  yet  to  be  awaited.  The  body  of  people  of  this 
country  love  us  cordially,  but  ministers  and  merchants  love 
nobody.  The  merchants  here  are  endeavoring  to  exclude  us 
from  their  islands.  The  ministers  will  be  governed  in  it  by 
political  motives,  and  will  do  it  or  not  do  it,  as  these  shall  appear 
to  dictate,  without  love  or  hatred  to  anybody.  (To  John  Lang- 
don,  1785.  C.  L,  429.) 

ENGLAND. — I  returned  but  three  or  four  days  ago  from  a  two 
months  trip  to  England.  I  traversed  that  country  much,  and 
own  both  town  and  country  fell  short  of  my  expectations.  Com 
paring  it  with  this  [France]  I  found  a  much  greater  proportion 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  203 

of  barrens,  a  soil  in  other  parts  not  naturally  so  good  as  this, 
nor  better  cultivated.  This  proceeds  from  the  practice  of  long 
leases  there,  and  short  ones  here.  The  laboring  people  here  are 
poorer  than  in  England.  They  pay  but  one-half  their  produce 
in  rent,  the  English  in  general  about  a  third.  The  gardening 
in  that  country  is  the  article  in  which  it  surpasses  all  the  earth, 
I  mean  their  pleasure  gardening.  This  indeed  went  far  beyond 
my  ideas.  The  city  of  London,  though  handsomer  than  Paris, 
is  not  so  handsome  as  Philadelphia.  Their  architecture  is  the 
most  wretched  style  I  ever  saw,  not  meaning  to  except  America 
where  it  is  bad,  nor  even  Virginia  where  it  is  worse  than  in  any 
other  part  I  have  seen.  England  hates  us,  their  ministers  hate 
us,  and  their  King  more  than  all  other  men.  (To  John  Page, 
written  in  Paris,  1786.  F.  IV.,  214.) 

ENGLAND. — I  consider  the  English  as  our  natural  enemies  and 
the  only  nation  on  earth  who  wish  us  ill  from  the  bottom  of  their 
souls.  And  I  am  satisfied  that  were  our  continent  to  be 
swallowed  up  by  the  ocean,  Great  Britain  would  be  a  bonfire 
from  one  end  to  the  other.  (To  William  Carmichael,  written  in 
Paris,  1787.  F.  IV.,  470.) 

ENGLAND. — When  we  take  notice  that  theirs  (England)  is  the 
workshop  to  which  we  go  for  all  we  want;  that  with  them  center 
either  immediately  or  ultimately  all  the  labors  of  our  hands  and 
lands;  that  to  them  belong  either  openly  or  secretly  the  great 
mass  of  our  navigation;  that  even  the  factorage  of  their  affairs 
here  is  kept  to  themselves  by  factitious  citizenship;  that  these 
foreign  and  false  citizens  now  constitute  the  great  body  of  what 
are  called  our  merchants,  fill  our  seaports,  are  planted  in  every 
little  town  and  district  of  the  interior  country,  sway  everything 
in  the  former  places  by  their  own  votes,  and  those  of  their 
dependents  in  the  latter  by  their  insinuations  and  their  letters; 
that  they  are  advancing  fast  to  a  monopoly  of  our  bank  and 
public  funds,  and  thereby  placing  our  public  finances  under 
their  control;  that  they  have  in  their  alliance  the  most  in 
fluential  characters  in  and  out  of  office;  when  they  have  shown 
that  by  all  these  bearings  on  the  different  branches  of  govern 
ment  they  can  force  it  to  proceed  in  whatever  direction  they 


204  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

dictate,  and  bend  the  interests  of  this  country  entirely  to  the 
will  of  another;  when  all  this,  I  say,  is  attended  to,  it  is  im 
possible  for  us  to  say  we  stand  on  independent  ground,  impos 
sible  for  a  free  mind  not  to  see  and  to  groan  under  the  bondage 
in  which  it  is  bound.  (To  Elbridge  Gerry,  1797.  F.  VII. ,  121.) 
ENGLAND. — Our  successors  have  deserved  well  of  their  country 
in  meeting  so  readily  the  first  friendly  advance  ever  made  to  us 
by  England.  I  hope  it  is  the  harbinger  of  a  return  to  the  exer 
cise  of  common  sense  and  common  good  humor,  with  a  country 
with  which  mutual  interests  would  urge  a  mutual  and  affec 
tionate  intercourse.  But  her  conduct  hitherto  has  been  towards 
us  so  insulting,  so  tyrannical  and  so  malicious,  as  to  indicate  a 
contempt  for  our  opinions  or  dispositions  respecting  her.  I 
hope  she  is  now  coming  over  to  a  wiser  conduct,  and  becoming 
sensible  how  much  better  it  is  to  cultivate  the  good  will  of  the 
government  itself,  than  of  a  faction  hostile  to  it;  to  obtain  its 
friendship  gratis  than  to  purchase  its  enmity  by  nourishing  at 
great  expense  a  faction  to  embarrass  it,  to  receive  the  reward 
of  an  honest  policy  rather  than  of  a  corrupt  and  vexatious  one. 
I  trust  she  has  at  length  opened  her  eyes  to  Federal  falsehood 
and  misinformation,  and  learnt  in  the  issue  of  the  presidential 
election,  the  folly  of  believing  them.  Such  a  reconciliation  to 
the  government,  if  real  and  permanent,  will  secure  the  tran 
quillity  of  our  country,  and  render  the  management  of  our  affairs 
easy  and  delightful  to  our  successors,  for  whom  I  feel  as  much 
interest  as  if  I  were  still  in  their  place.  Certainly  all  the 
trouble  and  difficulties  in  the  government  during  our  time  pro 
ceeded  from  England;  at  least  all  others  were  trifling  in  com 
parison  with  them.  (To  General  Dearborne,  1809.  C.  V.,  455.) 
^ENGLAND. — The  nature  of  the  English  unfits  them  for  the 
observation  of  moral  duties.  In  the  first  place  her  King  is  a 
cypher;  his  only  function  being  to  name  the  oligarchy  which  is 
to  govern  her.  The  Parliament  is,  by  corruption,  the  mere 
instrument  of  the  will  of  the  administration.  The  real  power 
and  property  in  the  government  is  in  the  great  aristocratical 
families  of  the  nation.  The  nest  of  office  being  too  small  for 
all  of  them  to  cuddle  into  at  once,  the  contest  is  eternal,  which 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  205 

shall  crowd  the  other  out.  For  this  purpose,  they  are  divided 
into  two  parties,  the  Ins  and  the  Outs,  so  equal  in  weight  that 
a  small  matter  turns  the  balance.  To  keep  themselves  in,  II 
every  stratagem  must  be  practiced,  every  artifice  used,  which 
may  flatter  the  pride,  the  passion  or  power  of  the  nation.  Jus 
tice,  honor,  faith  must  yield  to  the  necessity  of  keeping  them 
selves  in  place.  The  question  whether  a  measure  is  moral,  is*'- 
never  asked;  but  whether  it  will  nourish  the  avarice  of  their 
merchants,  or  the  piratical  spirit  of  their  navy,  or  produce  any 
other  effect  which  may  strengthen  them  in  their  places.  As  to 
engagements,  however  positive,  entered  into  by  the  predecessors 
of  the  Ins,  why,  they  were  enemies,  they  did  everything 
which  was  wrong;  and  to  reverse  everything  which  they  did, 
must,  therefore,  be  right.  This  is  theftrue  character  of  the  * 
English  Government  in  practice,  however  different  its  theory;^ 
and  it  presents  the  singular  phenomenon  of  a  nation,  the  indi 
viduals  of  which  are  as  faithful  to  their  private  engagements 
and  duties,  as  honorable,  as  worthy,  as  those  of  any  nation  on 
earth,  and  whose  government  is  yet  the  most  unprincipled  at 
this  day  known.  (To  Governor  Langdon,  1810.  C.  V.,  513.) 
**  ENGLAND. — But  what  is  to  restore  order  and  safety  on  the 
ocean?  The  death  of  George  III?  Not  at  all.  He  is  only 
stupid;  and  his  ministers,  however  weak  and  profligate  in 
morals,  are  ephemeral.  But  this  nation  is  permanent,  and  it 
is  that  which  is  the  tyrant  of  the  ocean.  The  principle  that 
force  is  right,  is  become  the  principle  of  the  nation  itself.  They 
would  not  permit  an  honest  minister,  were  accident  to  bring 
such  an  one  into  power,  to  relax  their  system  of  lawless  piracy. 
(To  Caesar  Rodney,  1810.  C.  V.,  501.) 

^ENGLAND. — The  fate  of  England,  I  think  with  you,  is  nearly 
decided,  and  the  present  form  of  her  existence  is  drawing  to 
a  close.  The  ground,  the  houses,  the  men  will  remain;  but  in 
what  new  form  they  will  revive  and  stand  among  nations,  is 
beyond  the  reach  of  human  foresight.  We  hope  it  may  be 
one  of  which  the  predatory  principle  may  not  be  the  essential 
characteristic.  If  her  transformation  shall  replace  her  under 
the  laws  of  moral  order,  it  is  for  the  general  interest  that  she 


206  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

should  still  be  a  sensible  and  independent  weight  in  the  scale 
of  nations,  and  be  able  to  contribute,  when  a  favorable  moment 
presents  itself,  to  reduce  to  the  same  order,  her  great  rival  in 
flagitiousness.  We  especially  ought  to  pray  that  the  powers  of 
Europe  may  be  so  poised  and  counterpoised  among  themselves, 
that  their  own  safety  may  require  the  presence  of  all  the  force 
at  home,  leaving  the  other  quarters  of  the  globe  in  undisturbed 
tranquillity.  When  our  strength  will  permit  us  to  give  the  law 
of  our  hemisphere,  it  should  be  that  the  meridian  of  the  mid- 
Atlantic  should  be  the  line  of  demarkation  between  war  and 
peace,  on  this  side  of  which  no  act  of  hostility  should  be  com 
mitted,  and  the  lion  and  the  lamb  shall  lie  down  in  peace  to 
gether.  (To  Dr.  Crawford,  1812.  C.  VI.,  33.) 

ENGLAND. — But  the  English  Government  never  dies,  because 
the  King  is  no  part  of  it;  he  is  a  mere  formality,  and  the  real 
government  is  the  aristocracy  of  the  country,  for  the  House 
of  Commons  is  of  that  class.  Their  aim  is  to  claim  the  dominion 
of  the  ocean  by  conquest,  and  to  make  every  vessel  navigating 
it  pay  a  tribute  to  the  support  of  the  fleet  necessary  to  main 
tain  that  dominion,  to  which  their  own  resources  are  inadequate. 
I  see  no  means  of  terminating  their  maritime  dominion  and 
tyranny  but  in  their  own  bankruptcy,  which  I  hope  is  approach 
ing.  (To  Dr.  Brown,  1813.  C.  VI.,  165.) 

ENGLAND. — There  is  not  a  nation  on  the  globe  with  whom  I 
have  more  earnestly  wished  a  friendly  intercourse  on  equal 
conditions.  On  no  other  would  I  hold  out  the  hand  of  friend 
ship  to  any.  I  know  that  their  creatures  represent  me  as  per 
sonally  an  enemy  to  England.  But  fools  can  only  think  this, 
or  those  who  think  me  a  fool.  I  am  an  enemy  to  her  insults 
and  injuries.  I  am  an  enemy  to  the  flagitious  principles  of 
her  administration,  and  to  those  who  govern  her  conduct 
towards  other  nations.  But  would  she  give  to  morality  some 
place  in  the  political  code,  and  especially  would  she  exercise 
decency,  and  at  least  neutral  passions  towards  us,  there  is  not, 
I  repeat  it,  a  people  on  earth  with  whom  I  would  sacrifice  so 
much  to  be  in  friendship.  (To  Caesar  Rodney,  1815.  C.  VI., 
449-) 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  207 

ENGLAND. — I  hope  in  God  her  government  will  come  to  a 
sense  of  this,  and  will  see  that  honesty  and  interest  are  as 
intimately  connected  in  the  public  as  in  the  private  code  of 
morality.  Her  ministers  have  been  weak  enough  to  believe 
from  the  newspapers  that  Mr.  Madison  and  myself  are  per 
sonally  her  enemies.  Such  an  idea  is  unworthy  a  man  of  sense; 
as  we  should  have  been  unworthy  our  trusts  could  we  have 
felt  such  a  motive  of  public  action.  No  two  men  in  the  United 
States  have  more  sincerely  wished  for  cordial  friendship  with 
her;  not  as  her  vassals  or  dirty  partisans,  but  as  members  of 
co-equal  states,  respecting  each  other;  and  sensible  of  the  good 
as  well  as  the  harm  each  is  capable  of  doing  the  other.  On  this 
ground  there  never  was  a  moment  we  did  not  wish  to  embrace 
her.  But  repelled  by  their  aversions,  feeling  their  hatred  at 
every  point  of  contact  and  justly  indignant  at  its  supercilious 
manifestations,  that  happened  which  has  happened,  that  will 
follow,  must  follow,  in  progressive  ratio>  while  such  dispositions 
continue  to  be  indulged.  I  hope  they  will  see  this,  and  do  their 
part  towards  healing  the  minds  and  cooling  the  temper  of  both 
nations.  (To  Mr.  Murray,  1815.  C.  VL,  468.) 

THE  ENGLISH. — As  a  political  man  they,  the  English,  shall 
never  find  any  passion  in  me  either  for  or  against  them.  When 
ever  their  avarice  of  commerce  will  let  them  meet  us  fairly 
half-way,  I  should  meet  them  with  satisfaction,  because  it  would 
be  for  our  benefit;  but  I  mistake  their  character  if  they  do  this 
under  present  circumstances.  (To  Francis  Kinloch,  1790.  F. 
V.,  249.) 

ENGLISH  CHARACTER. — I  fancy  it  must  be  the  quantity  of  ani 
mal  food  eaten  by  the  English  which  renders  their  character 
insusceptible  to  civilization.  I  suspect  it  is  in  their  kitchens  and 
not  in  their  churches  that  their  reformation  must  be  worked,, 
and  that  missionaries  of  that  description  from  hence  would  avail 
more  than  those  who  should  endeavor  to  tame  them  by  pre 
cepts  of  religion  or  philosophy.  (Written  from  Paris  to  Mrs. 
John  Adams,  1785.  F.  IV.,  100.) 

EPICURUS. — As  you  say  of  yourself,  I  too  am  an  Epicurean. 
I  consider  the  genuine  (not  the  imputed)  doctrines  of  Epicurus 


208  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

as  containing  everything  rational  in  moral  philosophy  which 
Greece  and  Rome  have  left  us.  Epictetus,  indeed,  has  given  us 
what  was  good  of  the  Stoics ;  all  beyond,  of  their  dogmas,  being 
hypocrisy  and  grimace.  Their  great  crime  was  in  their  calum 
nies  of  Epicurus  and  misrepresentation  of  his  doctrines.  *  *  * 
But  the  greatest  of  all  reformers  of  the  depraved  religion  of 
his  own  country,  was  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Abstracting  what  is 
really  his  from  the  rubbish  in  which  it  is  buried,  easily  distin 
guished  by  its  lustre  from  the  dross  of  his  biographers,  and  as 
separable  from  that  as  the  diamond  from  the  dunghill,  we  have 
the  outlines  of  a  system  of  the  most  sublime  morality  which 
has  fallen  from  the  lips  of  man;  outlines  which  it  is  lamentable 
he  did  not  fill  up.  Epictetus  and  Epicurus  give  laws  for  gov 
erning  ourselves,  Jesus  a  supplement  of  the  duties  and  charities 
we  owe  to  others.  (To  Mr.  Short,  1819.  C.  VIL,  138.) 
^EQUITY  COURTS. — Relieve  the  judges  from  the  rigour  of  text  -, 
law,  and  permit  them,  with  praetorian  discretion  to  wander  into 
its  equity,  and  the  whole  legal  system  becomes  uncertain.  This 
has  been  its  fate  in  every  country  where  the  fixed  and  dis 
cretionary  laws  have  been  committed  into  the  same  hands.  It 
is  probable  that  the  singular  certainty  with  which  justice  has 
been  administered  in  England  has  been  the  consequence  of 
their  distribution  into  two  distinct  departments.  (Written  from 
Paris  to  Philip  Mazzei,  1785.  F.  IV.,  115.) 

ETIQUETTE. — I.  In  order  to  bring  the  members  of  society 
together  in  the  first  instance,  the  custom  of  the  country  has 
established  that  residents  shall  pay  the  first  visit  to  strangers; 
and,  among  strangers,  first  comers  to  later  comers,  foreign 
and  domestic;  the  character  of  strangers  ceasing  after  the  first 
visit.  To  this  rule  there  is  a  single  exception.  Foreign  minis 
ters,  from  the  necessity  of  making  themselves  known,  pay  the 
first  visit  to  the  ministers  of  the  nation,  which  is  returned. 

II.  When  brought  together  in  society,  all  are  perfectly 
equal,  whether  foreign  or  domestic,  titled  or  untitled,  in  or  out 
of  office. 

All  other  observances  are  but  exemplifications  of  these  two 
principles. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  209 

I.  1st.     The  families  of  foreign  ministers,  arriving  at  the  seat 
of  government,  receive  the  first  visit  from  those  of  the  national 
ministers,  as  from  all  the  residents. 

2d.  Members  of  the  Legislature  and  of  the  Judiciary,  inde 
pendent  of  their  offices,  have  a  right  as  strangers  to  receive 
the  first  visit. 

II.  ist.     No  titles  being  admitted  here,  those  of  foreigners 
give  no  precedence. 

2d.  Differences  of  grade  among  diplomatic  members,  give 
no  precedence. 

3d.  At  public  ceremonies,  to  which  the  government  invites 
the  presence  of  foreign  ministers  and  their  families,  a  convenient 
seat  or  station  will  be  provided  for  them,  with  any  other  stran 
gers  invited  and  the  families  of  the  national  ministers,  each 
taking  place  as  they  arrive,  and  without  precedence. 

4th.  To  retain  the  principle  of  equality,  or  of  pele-mele, 
and  prevent  the  growth  of  precedence  out  of  courtesy,  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Executive  will  practice  at  their  own  houses,  and 
recommend  an  adherence  to  the  ancient  usage  of  the  country, 
gentlemen  in  mass  giving  precedence  to  the  ladies  in  mass,  in 
passing  from  one  apartment  where  they  are  assembled  into  an 
other.  (From  a  Manuscript,  1803.  F.  VIII.,  276.) 

THE  EXECUTIVE. — The  failure  of  the  French  Directory,  and 
from  the  same  cause,  seems  to  have  authorized  a  belief  that  the 
form  of  a  plurality,  however  promising  in  theory,  is  impracti 
cable  with  men  constituted  with  the  ordinary  passions.  While 
the  tranquil  and  steady  tenor  of  our  single  executive,  during  a 
course  of  twenty-two  years  of  the  most  tempestuous  times  the 
history  of  the  world  has  ever  presented,  gives  a  rational  hope  that 
this  important  problem  is  at  length  solved.  Aided  by  the 
counsels  of  a  cabinet,  of  heads  of  departments,  originally  four, 
but  now  five,  with  whom  the  President  consults,  either  singly 
or  altogether,  he  has  the  benefit  of  their  wisdom  and  informa 
tion,  and  produces  an  unity  of  action  and  direction  in  all  the 
branches  of  the  government.  The  excellence  of  this  construc 
tion  of  the  executive  power  has  already  manifested  itself  here 
under  very  opposite  circumstances.  During  the  administration 


210  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

of  our  first  President,  his  cabinet  of  four  members  was  equally 
divided  by  as  marked  an  opposition  of  principle  as  monarchism 
and  republicanism,  could  bring  into  conflict.  Had  that  cabinet 
been  a  directory,  like  positive  and  negative  quantities  in  algebra, 
the  opposing  wills  would  have  balanced  each  other  and  pro 
duced  a  state  of  absolute  inaction.  But  the  President  heard 
with  calmness  the  opinions  and  reasons  of  each,  decided  the 
course  to  be  pursued,  and  kept  the  government  steadily  in  it, 
unaffected  by  the  agitation.  The  public  knew  well  the  dissen 
sions  of  the  cabinet,  but  never  had  an  uneasy  thought  on  their 
account,  because  they  knew  also*  they  had  provided  a  regulating 
power  which  would  keep  the  machine  in  steady  movement. 
I  speak  with  an  intimate  knowledge  of  these  scenes,  quorum 
pars  fui,  as  I  may  of  others  of  a  character  entirely  opposite. 
The  third  administration,  which  was  of  eight  years,  presented 
an  example  of  harmony  in  a  cabinet  of  six  persons,  to  which 
perhaps  history  has  furnished  no  parallel.  There  never  arose 
during  the  whole  time  an  instance  of  an  unpleasant  thought  or 
word  between  the  members.  We  sometimes  met  under  differ 
ence  of  opinion,  but  scarcely  ever  failed,  by  conversing  and 
reasoning,  so*  to  modify  each  others'  ideas  as  to  produce  a 
unanimous  result.  Yet  able  and  amiable  as  these  members 
were,  I  am  not  certain  this  would  have  been  the  case  had  each 
possessed  equal  and  independent  powers.  Ill-defined  limits  of 
their  respective  departments,  jealousies,  trifling  at  first,  but 
nourished  and  strengthened  by  repetition  of  occasions,  intrigues 
without  doors  of  designing  persons  to  build  an  importance  to 
themselves  on  the  divisions  of  others  might  from  small  begin 
nings  have  produced  persevering  oppositions.  But  the  power 
of  decision  in  the  President  left  no  object  for  internal  dissension, 
and  external  intrigue  was  stifled  in  embryo  by  the  knowledge 
which  incendiaries  possessed  that  no  division  they  could  ferment 
would  change  the  course  of  the  executive  power.  I  am  not 
conscious  that  my  participations  in  the  executive  authority 
have  produced  any  bias  in  favor  of  the  single  executive,  because 
the  parts  I  have  acted  have  been  in  the  subordinate  as  well  as  in 
superior  stations,  and  because,  if  I  know  myself,  what  I  have 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  211 

felt  and  what  I  have  wished,  I  know  that  I  have  never  been'  so 
well  pleased  as  when  I  could  shift  power  from  my  own  on  the 
shoulders  of  others,  nor  have  I  ever  been  able  to  conceive  how 
any  rational  being  could  propose  happiness  to  himself  from 
the  exercise  of  po\ver  over  others.  (To  Destutt  Tracy,  1881. 
C.  V.,  568.) 

EXPANSION. — I  am  aware  of  the  force  of  the  observations  you 
make  on  the  power  given  by  the  Constitution  to  Congress  to 
admit  new  States  into  the  Union  without  restraining  the  subject 
to  the  territory  then  constituting  the  United  States.  But 
when  I  consider  that  the  limits  of  the  United  States  are  pre 
cisely  fixed  by  the  treaty  of  1783,  that  the  Constitution  ex 
pressly  declares  itself  to  be  made  for  the  United  States,  I  cannot 
help  believing  the  intention  was  noi  to  permit  Congress  to 
admit  into  the  Union  new  States  which  should  be  formed  out 
of  the  territory  for  which  and  under  whose  authority  alone  they 
were  then  acting.  I  do  not  believe  it  \vas  meant  that  they 
might  receive  England,  Ireland,  Holland,  etc.,  into  it,  which 
would  be  the  case  under  your  construction.  (To  W.  C.  Nicholas, 
1803.  C.  IV.,  505.) 

EXPANSION. — The  denouement  (referring  to  the  acquisition  of 
Louisiana)  has  been  happy;  and  I  confess  I  look  to  this  duplica 
tion  of  area  for  the  extending  of  a  government  so  free  and 
economical  as  ours  as  a  great  achievement  to  the  mass  of  happi 
ness  that  is  to  ensue.  (To  Dr.  Priestly,  1804.  C.  IV.,  525.) 

EXPANSION. — See  Canada,  Cuba,  Louisiana. 

EXERCISE. — Give  about  two  hours  every  day  to  exercise;  for 
health  must  not  be  sacrificed  to  learning.  A  strong  body  makes 
the  mind  strong.  As  to  the  species  of  exercise,  I  advise  the 
gun.  While  this  gives  a  moderate  exercise  to  the  body,  it 
gives  boldness,  enterprise,  and  independence  to  the  mind. 
Games  played  with  the  ball,  and  others  of  that  nature,  are  too 
violent  for  the  body,  and  stamp  no  character  on 'the  mind.  Let 
your  gun,  therefore,  be  the  constant  companion  of  your  walks. 
Never  think  of  taking  a  book  with  you.  The  object  of  walking 
is  to  relax  the  mind.  You  should,  therefore,  not  permit  your 
self  even  to  think  while  you  walk;  but  direct  yourself  by  the 


212  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

objects  surrounding  you.  Walking  is  the  best  possible  exercise. 
Habituate  yourself  to  walk  very  far.  The  Europeans  value 
themselves  on  having  subdued  the  horse  to  the  uses  of  man; 
but  I  doubt  whether  we  have  not  lost  more  than  we  have  gained 
by  the  use  of  this  animal.  No  one  has  occasioned  so  much  the 
degeneracy  of  the  human  body.  An  Indian  goes  on  foot  nearly 
as  far  in  a  day  for  a  long  journey  as  an  enfeebled  white  does 
on  his  horse;  and  he  will  tire  the  best  horses.  There  is  no 
habit  you  will  value  so  much  as  that  of  walking  far  without 
fatigue.  I  would  advise  you  to  take  your  exercise  in  the  after 
noon;  not  because  it  is  the  best  time  for  exercise,  for  certainly 
it  is  not;  but  because  it  is  the  best  time  to  spare  from  your 
studies;  and  habit  will  soon  reconcile  it  to  health,  and  render 
it  nearly  as  useful  as  if  you  gave  to  that  the  more  precious 
hours  of  the  day.  A  little  walk  of  half  an  hour  in  the  morning 
when  you  first  rise  is  advisable  also.  It  shakes  off  sleep  and  pro 
duces  other  good  effects  in  the  animal  economy.  (To  Peter 
Carr,  his  nephew,  1785.  C.  L,  397.) 

^-^EXPATRIATION. — My  opinion  on  the  right  of  expatriation  has 
been,  so  long  ago  as  the  year  1776,  consigned  to  record  in 
the  act  of  the  Virginia  code,  drawn  by  myself,  recognizing  the 
right  expressly,  and  prescribing  the  mode  of  exercising  it.  The 
evidence  of  this  natural  right,  like  that  of  our  right  to  life, 
liberty,  the  use  of  our  facilities,  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  is  not 
left  to  the  feeble  and  sophistical  investigations  of  reason,  but 
is  impressed  on  the  sense  of  every  man.  We  do  not  claim  these 
under  the  charters  of  kings  or  legislators,  but  under  the  King 
of  kinigs.  If  he  has  made  it  a  law  in  the  nature  of  man  to 
pursue  his  own  happiness,  he  has  left  him  free  in  the  choice  of 
place  as  well  as  mode;  and  we  may  safely  call  on  the  whole 
body  of  English  jurists  to  produce  the  map  on  which  Nature 
lias  traced,  for  each  individual,  the  geographical  line  which  she 
forbids  him  to  cross  in  pursuit  of  happiness.  It  certainly  does 
not  exist  in  the  mind.  Where,  then,  is  it?  I  believe,  too,  I 
might  safely  affirm,  that  there  is  not  another  nation,  civilized  or 
savage,  which  has  ever  denied  this  natural  right.  I  doubt  if 
there  is  another  which  refuses  its  exercise.  I  know  it  is  allowed 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  213 

in  some  of  the  most  respectable  countries  of  continental  Europe, 
nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  one  in  which  it  was  not.  How  it  is 
among  our  savage  neighbors,  who  have  no  law  but  that  of 
nature,  we  all  know.  (To  Dr.  John  Manners,  1817.  C. 
VII,  730 

^EXPATRIATION. — I  hold  the  right  of  expatriation  to  be  in 
herent  in  every  man  by  the  laws  of  nature,  and  incapable  of 
being  rightly  taken  from  him  even  by  the  united  will  of  every 
other  person  in  the  nation.  If  the  laws  have  provided  no  par 
ticular  mode  by  which  the  right  of  expatriation  may  be  exer 
cised,  the  individual  may  do  it  by  any  effectual  and  unequivocal 
act  or  declaration.  The  laws  of  Virginia  have  provided  a  mode; 
Mr.  Cooper  is  said  to  have  exercised  his  right  solemnly  and 
exactly  according  to  that  mode,  and  to  have  departed  from  the 
Commonwealth;  whereupon  the  law  declares  that  "he  shall 
thenceforth  be  deemed  no  citizen."  Returning  afterwards  he 
returns  an  alien,  and  must  proceed  to  make  himself  a  citizen 
if  he  desires  it,  as  every  other  alien  does.  At  present  he  can 
hold  no  lands,  receive  nor  transmit  any  inheritance,  nor  enjoy 
any  other  right  peculiar  to  a  citizen. 

The  general  government  has  nothing  to  do  with  this  ques 
tion.  Congress  may  by  the  Constitution  "establish  an  uniform 
rule  of  naturalization,"  that  is,  by  what  rule  an  alien  may 
become  a  citizen.  But  they  cannot  take  from  the  citizen  his 
natural  right  of  divesting  himself  of  the  character  of  a  citizen 
by  expatriation.  (To  Albert  Gallatin,  1806.  F.  VIII. ,  458.) 

EXPENSES  OF  PUBLIC  SERVANTS. — It  is  just  the  members  of 
the  General  Assembly,  delegated  by  the  people  to  transact  for 
them  the  legislative  business,  should,  while  attending  that  busi 
ness,  have  their  reasonable  sustenance  defrayed ;  *  *  *  and  it 
is  expedient  that  the  public  councils  should  not  be  deterred  from 
entering  into  them  by  the  insufficiency  of  their  private  fortunes 
to  be  the  extraordinary  expenses  they  must  necessarily  incur. 
(From  a  Bill  giving  members  of  the  Assembly  an  adequate  al 
lowance,  1778.  F.  II.,  165.) 

FARMER. — An  industrious  farmer  occupies  a  more  dignified 
place  in  the  scale  of  beings,  whether  moral  or  political,  than 


214  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

a  lazy  lounger,  valuing  himself  on  his  family,  too  proud  to  work, 
and  drawing  out  a  miserable  existence  by  eating  on  that  surplus 
of  other  men's  labour  which  is  the  sacred  fund  of  the  helpless 
poor.  (Written  in  Paris,  1786.  F.  IV.,  176.) 

FARMERS. — Farmers  are  the  true  representatives  of  the  great 
American  interest  and  are  alone  to  be  relied  on  for  expressing 
the  proper  American  sentiments.  (From  a  letter  to  Arthur 
Campbell,  1797.) 

FARMING. — When,!  first  entered  on  the  stage  of  public  life 
(now  twenty-four  years  ago),  I  came  to  a  resolution  never  to 
engage  while  in  public  office  in  any  kind  of  enterprise  for  the 
improvement  of  my  fortune  nor  to  wear  any  other  character 
than  that  of  a  farmer.  I  have  never  departed  from  it  in  a  single 
instance;  and  I  have  in  multiplied  instances  found  myself  happy 
in  being  able  to  decide  and  to  act  as  a  public  servant,  clear 
of  all  interest  in  the  multiform  questions  that  have  arisen, 
wherein  I  have  seen  others  embarrassed  and  biased  by  having 
got  themselves  into  a  more  interested  situation.  Thus  I  have 
thought  myself  richer  in  contentment  than  I  should  have  been 
with  any  increase  of  fortune.  Certainly  I  should  have  been 
much  wealthier  had  I  remained  in  that  private  condition  which 
renders  it  lawful  and  even  laudable  to  use  proper  efforts  to 
better  it.  However,  my  public  career  is  now  closing,  and  I 
wilf  go  through  on  the  principle  on  which  I  have  hitherto  acted. 
(From  a  letter  without  an  address,  1793.  C.  III.,  527.) 

THE  FEDERALIST. — With  respect  to  the  Federalist,  the  three 
authors  had  been  named  to  me.  I  read  it  with  care,  pleasure 
and  improvement,  and  was  satisfied  there  was  nothing  in  it 
by  one  of  these  hands  and  not  a  great  deal  by  a  second.  It 
does  the  highest  honor  to  the  third,  as  being  in  my  opinion, 
the  best  commentary  on  the  principles  of  government  which  ever 
was  written.  In  some  parts  it  is  discoverable  that  the  author 
means  only  to  say  what  may  be  best  said  in  defense  of  opinions 
in  which  he  did  not  concur.  But  in  general  it  establishes  firmly 
the  plan  of  government.  I  confess  it  has  rectified  me  in  several 
points.  (From  a  letter  to  James  Madison,  written  in  Paris,  1788. 
F.  V.,  53-) 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  215 

FICTION. — A  little  attention  to  the  nature  of  the  human  mind 
evinces  that  the  entertainments  of  fiction  are  useful  as  well  as 
pleasant.  *  *  *  A  lively  and  lasting  sense  of  filial  duty  is 
more  effectually  impressed  on  the  mind  of  a  son  or  daughter 
by  reading  King  Lear,  than  by  all  the  dry  volumes  of  ethics 
and  divinity  that  ever  were  written.  (To  Robert  Skipwith,  a 
friend  of  Jefferson's  youth,  1771.  F.  I.,  398.) 

FOREIGN  ENTANGLEMENTS. — Determined  as  we  are  to  avoid  if 
possible  wasting  the  energies  of  our  people  in  war  and  destruc 
tion,  we  shall  avoid  implicating  ourselves  with  the  powers  of 
Europe  even  in  the  support  of  principles  which  we  mean  to 
pursue.  They  have  so  many  other  interests  different  from  ours 
that  we  must  avoid  being  entangled  in  them.  (To  Thomas 
Paine,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  18.) 

FOREIGN  ENTANGLEMENTS. — I  join  you  in  a  sense  of  necessity 
of  restoring  freedom  to  the  ocean.  But  I  doubt  with  you 
whether  the  United  States  ought  to  join  in  an  armed  confed 
eracy  for  that  purpose;  or  rather  I  am  satisfied  they  ought  not. 
It  ought  to  be  the  very  first  object  of  our  pursuit  to  have  noth 
ing  to  do  with  the  European  interests  and  politics.  Let  them  be 
free  or  slaves  at  will,  navigators  or  agricultural,  swallowed  into 
one  government  or  divided  into  a  thousand,  we  have  nothing 
to  fear  from  them  in  any  form.  To  take  a  part  in  their  conflicts 
would  be  to  divert  our  energies  from  creation  to  destruction. 
Our  commerce  is  so  valuable  to  them  that  they  will  be  glad 
to  purchase  it  when  the  only  price  we  ask  is  to  do  us  justice. 
(To  Thos.  Logan,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  23.) 

FOREIGN  ENTANGLEMENTS. — We  have  a  perfect  horror  at 
everything  like  connecting  ourselves  with  the  politics  of  Europe. 
It  would  indeed  be  advantageous  to  us  to  have  neutral  rights 
established  on  a  broad  ground;  but  no  dependence  can  be  placed 
in  any  European  coalition  for  that.  They  have  so  many  other 
by-interests  of  greater  weight,  that  some  one  or  other  will 
always  be  bought  off.  To  be  entangled  with  them  would  be 
a  much  greater  evil  than  a  temporary  acquiescence  in  the  false 
principles  which  have  prevailed.  Peace  is  our  most  important 


2l6  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

interest,  and  a  recovery  from  debt.  (To  William  Short,  1801. 
F.  VIII.,  98.) 

FOREIGN  MINISTERS. — I  think  it  possible  that  it  will  be  estab 
lished  into  a  maxim  of  the  new  government  tO'  discontinue  its 
foreign  servants  after  a  certain  time  of  absence  from  their  own 
country  because  they  lose  in  time  that  sufficient  degree  of 
intimacy  with  its  circumstances  which  alone  can  enable  them 
to  know  and  pursue  its  interests.  (To  William  Short,  1790.  F. 
V.,  244.) 

FRANCE. — This  occasion  [the  assembling  of  the  Notables] 
more  than  anything  I  have  seen,  convinces  me  that  this  nation 
is  incapable  of  any  serious  effort  but  under  the  word  of  com 
mand.  The  people  at  large  view  every  object  only  as  it  may 
furnish  puns  and  bon  mots;  and  I  pronounce  that  a  good  pun 
ster  would  disarm  the  whole  nation  were  they  ever  so  seriously 
disposed  to  revolt.  Indeed,  Madam,  they  are  gone,  when  a 
measure  so  capable  of  doing  good  as  the  calling  of  the  Notables 
is  treated  with  so  much  ridicule;  we  may  conclude  the  nation 
desperate  and  in  charity  pray  that  heaven  may  send  them  good 
kings.  (To  Mrs.  John  Adams,  written  from  Paris,  1787.  F. 

iv.,  371.) 

FRANCE. — I  consider  your  boasts  of  the  splendor  of  your  city 
[London]  and  of  its  superb  hackney  coaches  as  a  flout,  and 
I  declare  that  I  would  not  give  the  polite,  self-denying,  feeling, 
hospitable,  good-humored  people  of  this  country  and  their 
amiability  in  every  point  of  view  (tho*  it  must  be  confessed  our 
streets  are  somewhat  dirty,  and  our  fiacres  rather  indifferent) 
for  ten  such  races  of  rich,  proud,  hectoring,  swearing,  squibbling, 
carnivorous  animals  as  those  among  whom  you  are;  and  I  do 
love  this  people  with  all  my  heart,  and  think  that  with  a  better 
religion,  a  better  form  of  government  and  their  present  gov 
ernors,  their  condition  and  country  would  be  most  enviable. 
(Written  from  Paris  to  Mrs.  John  Adams,  1785.  F.  IV.,  61.) 

FRANCE. — Be  assured,  Sir,  that  the  government  and  citizens 
of  the  United  States  view  with  the  most  sincere  pleasure  every 
advance  of  your  nation  towards  its  happiness,  an  object  essen 
tially  connected  with  its  liberty,  and  they  consider  the  union 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  217 

of  principles  and  pursuits  between  our  two  countries  as  a  link 
which  binds  snll  closer  than  interests  and  affections.  The 
genuine  and  general  effusion  of  joy  which  you  saw  overspread 
our  country  on  their  seeing  the  liberties  of  yours  rise  superior 
to  foreign  invasion  and  domestic  trouble  has  proved  to  you 
that  our  sympathies  are  great  and  sincere,  and  we  earnestly 
wish  on  our  part  that  there  our  mutual  dispositions  may  be 
improved  to  mutual  good  by  establishing  our  commercial  inter 
course  on  principles  as  friendly  to  natural  right  and  freedom 
as  are  those  of  our  government.  (Written  to  the  French  Minis 
ter,  1793.  F.  VI.,  189.) 

FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND. — When  of  two  nations  the  one  has 
engaged  herself  in  a  ruinous  war  for  us,  has  spent  her  blood 
and  money  to  save  us,  has  opened  her  bosom  to  us  in  peace, 
and  received  us  almost  on  the  footings  of  her  own  citizens, 
while  the  other  has  moved  heaven,  earth  and  hell  to  exter 
minate  us  in  war,  has  insulted  us  in  all  her  councils  in  peace, 
shut  her  doors  to  us  in  every  port  where  her  interests  would 
admit  it,  libeled  us  in  foreign  nations,  endeavored  to  poison 
them  against  the  reception  of  our  most  precious  commodities; 
to  place  these  two  nations  on  a  footing,  is  to  give  a  great  deal 
more  to  one  than  to  the  other  if  the  maxim  be  true  that  to 
make  unequal  quantities  equal  you  must  add  more  to  the  one 
than  to  the  other.  To  say  in  excuse  that  gratitude  is  never 
to  enter  into  the  motives  of  national  conduct  is  to  revive  a 
principle  which  has  been  buried  for  centuries  with  its  kindred 
principles  of  the  lawfulness  of  assassination,  poison,  prying,  etc. 
(Written  to  James  Madison  from  Paris,  1/89.  F.  V.,  in.) 

FRANKLIN,  BENJAMIN. — The  succession  to  Dr.  Franklin,  at 
the  court  of  France,  was  an  excellent  school  of  humility.  On  being 
represented  to  any  one  as  the  Minister  of  America,  the  common 
place  question  used  in  such  cases  was  "C'est  vous,  Monsieur, 
qui  remplace  le  Docteur  Franklin;"  "It  is  you,  Sir,  who  replace 
Dr.  Franklin."  I  generally  answered,  "No  one  can  replace 
him,  Sir;  I  am  only  his  successor."  (To  Rev.  William  Smith, 
1791.  F.  V,  293.) 

FREEDOM. — The  station  which  we  occupy  among  the  nations 


2l8  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

\ 

of  the  earth  is  honorable,  but  awful.  Trusted  \foth  the  destinies 
of  this  solitary  republic  of  the  world,  the  only  monument  of 
human  rights  and  the  sole  depository  of  the  sacred  fire  of  free 
dom  and  self-government,  from  hence  it  is  to  be  lighted  up  in 
other  regions  of  the  earth,  if  other  regions  of  the  earth  ever 
become  susceptible  of  its  benign  influence.  All  mankind  ought 
then,  with  us,  to  rejoice  in  its  prosperous,  and  sympathize  in  its 
adverse  fortunes,  as  involving  everything  that  is  dear  to  man. 
And  to  what  sacrifices  of  interest,  or  commerce  ought  not 
these  considerations  to  animate  us?  To  what  compromises  of 
opinion  and  inclination,  to  maintain  harmony  and  union  among 
ourselves,  and  to  preserve  from  all  danger  this  hallowed  ark  of 
human  hope  and  human  happiness.  That  differences  of  opinion 
should  arise  among  men,  on  politics,  on  religion,  and  on  every 
other  topic  of  human  inquiry,  and  that  these  should  be  freely 
expressed  in  a  country  where  all  our  faculties  are  free,  is  to  be 
expected.  (To  the  citizens  of  Washington,  1809.  C.  VIII., 

157.) 

FREEDOM  OF  THE  PRESS. — As  to  myself,  conscious  that  there 
was  not  a  truth  on  earth  which  I  feared  should  be  known,  I 
have  lent  myself  willingly  as  the  subject  of  a  great  experiment, 
which  was  to  prove  that  an  administration,  conducting  itself 
with  integrity  and  common  understanding,  cannot  be  battered 
down,  even  by  the  falsehoods  of  a  licentious  press,  and  conse 
quently  still  less  by  the  press,  as  restrained  within  the  legal 
and  wholesome  limits  of  truth.  This  experiment  was  wanting 
for  the  world  to  demonstrate  the  falsehood  of  the  pretext  that 
freedom  of  the  press  is  incompatible  with  orderly  government. 
I  have  never  therefore  even  contradicted  the  thousands  of  calum 
nies  so  industriously  propagated  against  myself.  But  the  fact 
being  once  established,  that  the  press  is  impotent  when  it 
abandons  itself  to  falsehood,  I  leave  to  others  to  restore  it  to 
its  strength,  by  recalling  it  within  the  pale  of  truth.  Within 
that,  it  is  a  noble  institution,  equally  the  friend  of  science  and 
of  civil  liberty.  If  this  can  once  be  effected  in  your  State,  I 
trust  we  shall  soon  see  its  citizens  rally  to  the  republican  prin- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  219 

ciples  of  our  Constitution,  which  unite  their  sister-states  into 
one  family.  (To  Thomas  Seymour,  1807.  C.  V.,  43.) 
• —  FREE  GOODS. — "Free  ships  should  make  free  goods;"  this 
principle  has  by  every  maritime  nation  of  Europe  been  estab 
lished,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  in  its  treaties  with  other 
nations;  insomuch,  that  all  of  them  have,  more  or  less  fre 
quently,  assented  to  it,  as  a  rule  of  action  in  particular  cases. 
Indeed,  it  is  now  urged,  and  I  think  with  great  appearance  of 
reason,  that  this  is  genuine  principle  dictated  by  national 
morality;  and  that  the  first  practice  arose  from  accident,  and  the 
particular  convenience  of  the  States  which  first  figured  on  the 
water,  rather  than  from  well-digested  reflections  on  the  rela 
tions  of  friend  and  enemy,  on  the  rights  of  territorial  jurisdic 
tion,  and  on  the  dictates  of  moral  law  applied  to  these.  Thus 
it  had  never  been  supposed  lawful,  in  the  territory  of  a  friend  to 
seize  the  goods  of  an  enemy.  On  an  element  which  nature* 
has  not  subjected  to  the  jurisdiction  of  any  particular  nation, 
but  has  made  common  to  all  for  the  purposes  to  which  it  is, 
fitted,  it  would  seem  that  the  particular  portion  of  it  which 
happens  to  be  occupied  by  the  vessel  of  any  nation,  in  the 
course  of  its  voyage,  is  for  the  moment,  the  exclusive  property 
of  that,  and  the  nation,  with  the  vessel,  is  exempt  from  intrusion 
by  any  other,  and  from  its  jurisdiction,  as  much  as  if  it  were 
lying  in  the  harbor  of  its  sovereign.  In  no  country,  we  believe, 
is  the  rule  otherwise,  as  to  the  subjects  of  property  common 
to  all.  Thus  the  place  occupied  by  an  individual  in  a  highway, 
a  church,  a  theater,  or  other  public  assembly,  cannot  be  intruded 
on,  while  its  occupants  hold  it  for  the  purpose  of  its  institution. 
The  persons  on  board  a  vessel  traversing  the  ocean,  cany*5* 
with  them  the  laws  of  their  nation,  have  among  themselves  a 
jurisdiction,  a  police,  not  established  by  their  individual  will, 
but  by  the  authority  of  their  nation,  of  whose  territory  their 
vessel  still  seems  to  compose  a  part,  so  long  as  it  does  not« 
enter  the  exclusive  territory  of  another. 

No  nation  ever  pretended  a  right  to  govern  by  their  laws 
the  ship  of  another  nation  navigating  the  ocean.  By  what  law 
then  can  it  enter  that  ship  while  in  peaceable  and  orderly  use  of 


220  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

the  common  element?  We  recognize  no>  natural  precept  for 
submission  to  such  a  right;  and  perceive  no  distinction  between 
the  movable  and  the  immovable  jurisdiction  of  a  friend,  which 
would  authorize  the  entering  the  one  and  not  the  other,  to 
seize  the  property  of  an  enemy.  (To  the  United  States  Minister 
to  France,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  89.) 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — The  revolution  in  this  country  seems 
to  be  going  on  well.  *  *  *  The  circumstance  from  which 
I  fear  the  worst  is  that  the  States  General  are  too  numerous. 
I  see  great  difficulty  in  preventing  1,200  people  from  becoming 
a  mob.  Should  confusion  be  prevented  from  this  circumstance, 
I  suppose  the  States  General,  with  the  consent  of  the  King, 
will  establish  some  of  the  leading  features  of  a  good  constitu 
tion.  They  have  indeed  a  miserable  old  canvas  to  work  on, 
covered  with  daubings  which  it  will  be  difficult  to  efface.  (Writ 
ten  to  William  Carmichael  from  Paris,  1789.  F.  V.,  74.) 

French  Revolution. — The  change  in  this  country  since  you 
left  it  is  such  as  you  can  form  no  idea  of.  The  frivolities  of 
conversation  have  given  away  entirely  to  politics.  Men,  women, 
and  children  talk  nothing  else.  The  press  groans  with  daily 
productions  which  in  point  of  boldness  make  an  Englishman 
stare.  A  complete  revolution  in  this  government  has,  within 
the  space  of  two  years  been  effected  merely  by  the  force  of 
public  opinion,  aided  indeed  by  the  want  of  money  which  the 
dissipations  of  the  court  had  brought  on.  The  assembly  of 
the  States  General  begins  the  27th  of  April.  The  representa 
tion  of  the  people  will  be  perfect.  But  they  will  be  alloyed 
by  an  equal  number  of  nobility  and  clergy.  *  *  *  I  believe 
this  nation  will  in  the  course  of  the  present  year  have  as  full 
a  portion  of  liberty  dealt  out  to  them  as  the  nation  can  bear 
at  present,  considering  how  uninformed  the  mass  of  their  people 
is.  (Written  to  David  Humphreys  from  Paris,  1789.  F.  V.,  88.) 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — The  American  war  seems  first  to  have 
awakened  the  thinking  part  of  the  nation  in  general  from  the 
sleep  of  despotism  in  which  they  were  sunk.  The  officers,  too, 
who  have  been  to  America,  were  mostly  young  men,  less 
shackled  by  habit  and  prejudice,  and  more  ready  to  assent  to 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  221 

the  dictates  of  common  sense  and  common  right.  They  came 
back  impressed  with  these.  The  press  notwithstanding  its 
shackles,  began  to  disseminate  them;  conversation,  too,  as 
sumed  new  freedom;  politics  became  the  theme  of  all  societies, 
male  and  female,  and  a  very  extensive  and  zealous  party  was 
formed,  which  may  be  called  the  Patriotic  party,  who  sensible 
of  the  abusive  government  under  which  they  lived,  longed  for 
occasion  of  reforming  it.  This  party  comprehended  all  the 
honesty  of  the  kingdom,  sufficiently  at  its  leisure  to  think;  the 
men  of  letters,  the  easy  bourgeois,  the  young  nobility,  partly 
from  reflection,  partly  from  mode;  for  these  sentiments  became 
a  matter  of  mode,  and  as  such  united  most  of  the  young  women 
to  the  party.  Happily  for  the  nation,  it  happened  that,  at  the 
same  moment  the  dissipation  of  the  court  had  exhausted  the 
money  and  credit  of  the  State,  and  M.  de  Calonnes  found  him 
self  obliged  to  appeal  to  the  nation,  and  to  develop  to  it  the 
ruin  of  their  finances.  He  had  no  idea  of  supplying  the  deficit 
by  economies;  he  saw  no  means  but  new  taxes.  To  tempt  the 
nation  to  consent  to  these  some  douceurs  were  necessary.  The 
notables  were  called  in  1787.  The  leading  vices  of  the  con 
stitution  and  administration  were  ably  sketched  out,  good 
remedies  proposed,  and  under  the  splendor  of  the  propositions, 
a  demand  for  more  money  was  couched.  The  Notables  con 
curred  with  the  minister  in  the  necessity  of  reformation,  adroitly 
avoided  the  demand  for  money,  got  him  displaced,  and  one 
of  their  leading  men  placed  in  his  room.  The  archbishop  of 
Toulouse,  by  the  aid  of  the  hopes  formed  of  him,  was  able  to 
borrow  some  money,  and  he  reformed  considerably  the  expenses 
of  the  court.  Notwithstanding  the  prejudices  since  formed 
against  him,  he  appeared  to  me  to  pursue  the  reformation  of 
the  laws  and  constitution  as  steadily  as  a  man  could  do  who  had 
to  drag  the  court  after  him,  and  even  to  conceal  from  them 
the  consequences  of  the  measures  he  was  leading  them  into. 
In  this  time  the  criminal  laws  were  reformed,  provincial  assem 
blies  and  States  established  in  most  of  the  provinces,  the  States 
General  promised,  and  a  solemn  acknowledgment  was  made 
by  the  King  that  he  could  not  impose  a  new  tax  without  the 


222  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

consent  of  the  nation.  It  is  true  he  was  continually  goaded 
forward  by  the  public  claims,  excited  by  the  writings  and  work 
ings  of  the  Patriots,  who  were  able  to  keep  up  the  public  fer 
mentation  at  the  exact  point  which  borders  on  resistance, 
without  entering  it.  They  had  taken  into  their  alliance  the 
Parliaments  also,  who  were  led,  by  very  singular  circumstances, 
to  espouse,  for  the  first  time  the  rights  of  the  nation.  They  had 
from  old  causes  had  personal  hostility  against  M.  de  Colonnes. 
They  refused  to  register  his  laws  or  his  taxes,  and  went  so  far 
as  to  acknowledge  they  had  no  power  to  do  it.  They  persisted 
in  this  with  his  successor,  who  therefore  exiled  them.  Seeing 
that  the  nation  did  not  interest  themselves  much  for  their  recall, 
they  began  to  fear  that  the  new  judicature  proposed  in  their 
place  would  be  established  and  that  their  own  suppression  would 
be  perpetual.  In  short,  they  found  their  own  strength  insuffi 
cient  to  oppose  that  of  the  King.  They  therefore  insisted  that 
the  States  General  should  be  called.  Here  they  became  united 
with  and  supported  by  the  Patriots,  and  their  joint  influence 
was  sufficient  to  produce  the  promise  of  that  assembly.  I  always 
suspected  that  the  archbishops  had  no  objections  to  this  force 
under  which  they  laid  him.  But  the  Patriots  and  Parliament 
insisted  it  was  their  efforts  which  extorted  the  promise  against 
his  will.  The  re-establishment  of  the  Parliament  was  the  effect 
of  the  same  coalition  between  the  Patriots  and  Parliament;  but 
once  re-established,  the  latter  began  to  see  danger  in  that  very 
power,  the  States  General,  which  they  had  called  for  in  a 
moment  of  despair,  but  which  they  now  foresaw  might  very 
possibly  abridge  their  power.  They  began  to  prepare  ground  for 
questioning  their  legality,  as  a  rod  over  the  head  of  the  States, 
and  as  a  refuge  if  they  should  really  extend  their  reformations 
to  them.  Mr.  Neckar  came  in  at  this  period  and  very  dexter 
ously  disembarrassed  the  administration  of  their  disputes  by 
calling  the  Notables  to  advise  the  form  of  calling  and  consti 
tuting  the  States.  The  court  was  well  disposed  towards  the 
people,  not  from  principles  of  justice  or  love  to  them;  but 
they  want  money.  No  more  can  be  had  from  the  people.  They 
are  squeezed  to  the  last  drop.  The  clergy  and  nobles,  by  their 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  223 

privileges  and  influence,  have  kept  their  property  in  a  great 
measure  untaxed  hitherto.  They  then  remain  to  be  squeezed, 
and  no  agent  is  powerful  enough  for  this  but  the  people.  The 
court  must  therefore  ally  itself  with  the  people.  But  the  Nota 
bles,  consisting  mostly  of  privileged  characters,  had  proposed 
a  method  of  composing  the  States,  which  would  have  rendered 
the  voice  of  the  people,  or  Tiers  Etat,  in  the  States  General, 
inefficient  for  the  purpose  of  the  court.  It  concurred  then 
with  the  Patriots  in  intriguing  with  the  Parliament  to  get  them 
to  pass  a  vote  in  favor  of  the  rights  of  the  people.  This  vote, 
balancing  that  of  the  Notables,  has  placed  the  court  at  liberty 
to  follow  its  own  views,  and  they  have  determined  that  the 
Tiers  Etat  shall  have  in  the  States  General  as  many  votes 
as  the  clergy  and  nobles  put  together.  Still  a  great  question 
remains  to  be  decided,  that  is,  shall  the  States  General  vote 
by  orders,  or  by  person  ?  Precedents  are  both  ways.  The  clergy 
will  move  heaven  and  earth  to  obtain  suffrage  by  orders,  because 
that  parries  the  effect  of  all  hitherto  done  for  the  people.  The 
people  will  probably  send  their  deputies  expressly  instructed 
to  consent  to  no  tax,  to  no  adoption  of  the  public  debt,  unless 
the  unprivileged  part  of  the  nation  has  a  voice  equal  to  that 
of  the  privileged;  that  is  to  say,  unless  the  voice  of  the  Tiers 
Etat  be  equalled  to  that  of  the  clergy  and  Notables.  They  will 
have  the  young  noblesse  in  general  on  their  side,  and  the  King 
and  the  court.  Against  them  will  be  the  ancient  nobles  and 
the  clergy.  So  that  I  hope,  upon  the  whole,  that  by  the  time 
they  meet,  there  will  be  a  majority  of  the  nobles  themselves  in 
favor  of  the  Tiers  Etat.  So  far  history.  We  are  now  come  to 
prophecy;  for  you  will  ask,  to  what  will  all  this  lead?  I  answer, 
if  the  States  General  do  not  stumble  at  the  threshold  on  the 
questions  before  stated,  and  which  must  be  decided  before 
they  can  proceed  to  business,  then  they  will  in  their  first  session 
easily  obtain:  i.  Their  future  periodical  convocation  of  the 
States.  2.  Their  exclusive  right  to  raise  and  appropriate  money 
which  includes  that  of  establishing  a  civil  list.  3.  A  participa 
tion  in  legislation;  probably  at  first,  it  will  be  a  transfer  to  them 
of  the  portion  of  it  now  exercised  by  Parliament,  that  is  to  say, 


224  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

a  right  to  propose  amendments  and  negatives.  But  it  must 
infallibly  end  in  a  right  of  origination.  4.  Perhaps  they  may 
make  a  declaration  of  rights.  It  will  be  attempted  at  least. 
Two  other  objects  will  be  attempted,  viz.,  a  habeas  corpus  law 
and  a  free  press.  But  probably  they  may  not  obtain  these  in 
the  first  session,  or  with  modification  only,  and  the  nation  must 
be  left  to  ripen  itself  more  for  their  unlimited  adoption.  Upon 
the  whole,  it  has  appeared  to  me  that  the  basis  of  the  present 
struggle  is  an  illumination  of  the  public  mind  as  to  the  rights 
of  the  nation,  aided  by  fortunate  incidents;  that  they  can  never 
retrograde,  but  from  the  natural  progress  of  things,  must  press 
forward  to  the  establishment  of  a  constitution  which  shall  as 
sure  them  a  good  degree  of  liberty.  They  flatter  themselves 
they  shall  form  a  better  constitution  than  the  English.  I  think 
it  will  be  better  in  some  points,  worse  in  others.  It  wall  be  better 
in  the  article  of  representation,  which  will  be  more  equal.  It 
will  be  worse,  as  their  situation  obliges  them  to  keep  up  the 
dangerous  machine  of  a  standing  army.  I  doubt,  too,  whether 
they  will  obtain  the  trial  by  jury,  because  they  are  not  sensible 
of  its  value.  (To  Dr.  Price,  written  in  Paris,  1789.  C.  II., 

553-5570 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — I  am  looking  ardently  to  the  comple 
tion  of  the  glorious  work  in  which  your  country  is  engaged. 
I  view  the  general  condition  of  Europe  as  hanging  on  the 
success  or  failure  of  France.  Having  set  such  an  example  of 
philosophical  arrangement  within,  I  hope  it  will  extend  without 
your  limits  also,  to  your  dependents  and  to  your  friends  in 
every  part  of  the  earth.  (To  the  Marquis  de  Condercet,  1791. 
F.  V,  379.) 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — I  still  hope  the  French  revolution  will 
issue  happily.  I  feel  that  the  permanence  of  our  own  leans  in 
some  degree  on  that,  and  that  failure  there  would  be  a  powerful 
argument  to  prove  a  failure  here.  (To  Edward  Rutledge,  1791. 
F.V.,377.) 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — The  French  Revolution  proceeds 
steadily,  and  is,  I  think,  beyond  the  danger  of  accident  of  every 
kind.  The  success  of  that  will  ensure  the  progress  of  liberty 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  225 

in  Europe,  and  its  preservation  here.  The  failure  of  that  would 
have  been  a  powerful  argument  with  those  who  wish  to  intro 
duce  a  king,  lords  and  commons  here.  (To  E.  Pendleton,  1791. 
F.  V.,  358.) 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — I  look  with  great  anxiety  for  the  firm 
establishment  of  the  new  government  in  France,  being  per 
fectly  convinced  that  if  it  takes  place  there,  it  will  spread  sooner 
or  later  all  over  Europe.  On  the  contrary  a  check  there  would 
retard  the  revival  of  liberty  in  other  countries.  I  consider  the 
establishment  and  success  of  their  government  as  necessary  to 
stay  up  our  own,  and  to  prevent  it  from  falling  back  to  that 
kind  of  half-way  house,  the  English  constitution.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  we  have  among  us  a  sect  who  believe  that  to  con 
tain  whatever  is  perfect  in  human  institutions;  that  the  members 
of  this  sect  have,  many  of  them,  names  and  offices  which  stand 
high  in  the  estimation  of  our  countrymen.  I  still  reply  that 
the  great  mass  of  our  community  is  untainted  by  these  heresies, 
as  is  its  head.  On  this  I  build  my  hope  that  we  have  not 
labored  in  vain,  and  that  our  experiment  will  still  prove  that 
men  can  be  governed  by  reason.  (To  George  Mason,  1791. 
F.  V.,  275.) 

V/FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — We  surely  cannot  deny  to  any  nation^ 
the  right  whereon  our  own  government  is  founded,  that  every 
one  may  govern  itself  under  whatever  form  it  pleases,  and 
change  these  forms  at  its  own  will,  and  that  it  may  transact 
its  business  with  foreign  nations  through  whatever  organ  i£ 
thinks  proper,  whether  King,  convention,  assembly,  committee^ 
President,  or  whatever  else  it  may  choose.  The  will  of  the 
nation  is  the  only  thing  essential  to  be  regarded.  *  *  ^n 

deed  we  wish  no  opportunity  of  convincing  them  [the  French 
people]  how  cordially  we  desire  the  closest  union  with  them; 
mutual  good  offices,  mutual  affection  and  similar  principles  of 
government  seem  to  have  destined  the  two  people  for  the  most 
intimate  communion,  and  even  for  a  complete  exchange  of 
citizenship  among  the  individuals  composing  them.  (From  a 
letter  to  the  United  States  Minister  to  France,  1792.  F.  VI., 


226  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — This  ministry  which  is  of  the  Jacobin 
party  cannot  but  be  favorable  to  us,  as  that  whole  party  must 
be.  Indeed  notwithstanding  the  very  general  abuse  of  the 
Jacobins,  I  begin  to  consider  them  as  representing  the  true 
revolution  spirit  of  the  whole  nation,  and  as  carrying  the  nation 
with  them.  (To  James  Madison,  1792.  F.  VI. ,  96.) 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — I  considered  the  Jacobins  as  the  same 
with  the  Republican  patriots  and  the  Feuillants  as  the  monarch 
ical  patriots,  well  known  in  the  early  part  of  the  Revolution  and 
but  little  distant  in  their  views,  both  having  in  object  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  free  constitution,  and  differing  only  on  the  ques 
tion  whether  their  chief  Executor  should  be  hereditary  or  not. 
The  Jacobins  (as  since  called)  yielded  to  the  Feuillants  and  tried 
the  experiment  of  retaining  their  hereditary  Executive.  The 
experiment  failed  completely,  and  would  have  brought  on  the 
re-establishment  of  despotism  had  it  been  pursued.  The 
Jacobins  saw  this,  and  that  the  expunging  that  officer  was  of 
absolute  necessity.  And  the  nation  was  with  them  in  opinion. 
*  *  *  In  the  struggle  which  was  necessary,  many  guilty  per 
sons  fell  without  the  forms  of  trial,  and  with  them  some  inno 
cent.  These  I  deplore  as  much  as  anybody  and  shall  deplore 
some  of  them  to  the  day  of  my  death.  But  I  deplore  them  as 
I  should  have  done  had  they  fallen  in  battle.  It  was  necessary 
to  use  the  arm  of  the  people,  a  machine  not  quite  so  blind 
as  balls  and  bombs,  but  blind  to  a  certain  degree.  A  few  of 
their  cordial  friends  met  at  their  hands  the  fate  of  enemies. 
But  time  and  truth  will  rescue  and  embalm  their  memories, 
while  their  posterity  will  be  enjoying  liberty  for  which  they 
would  never  have  hesitated  to  offer  up  their  lives.  The  liberty 
of  the  whole  earth  was  depending  on  the  issue  of  the  contest, 
and  was  ever  such  a  prize  won  with  so  little  innocent  blood? 
My  own  affections  have  been  deeply  wounded  by  some  of  the 
martyrs  to  this  cause,  but  rather  than  it  should  have  failed, 
I  would  have  seen  half  of  the  earth  desolated.  Were  there  buF 
an  Adam  and  an  Eve  left  in  every  country,  and  left  free,  it 
would  be  better  than  it  now  is.  I  have  expressed  to  you  my,., 
sentiments,  because  they  are  really  those  of  99  in  an  hundred 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  227 

of  our  citizens.  The  universal  feasts  and  rejoicings  which  have 
lately  been  had  on  account  of  the  successes  of  the  French 
shewed  the  genuine  effusion  of  their  hearts.  (To  William  Short, 
1793.  F.  V.,  153.) 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — Our  news  from  France  continues  to  be 
good  and  to  promise  a  continuance.  The  event  of  the  revolu 
tion  there  is  now  little  doubted  of,  even  by  its  enemies.  The 
sensation  it  has  produced  here,  and  the  indications  of  them  in 
the  public  papers  have  shown  that  the  form  our  own  govern 
ment  was  to  take  depended  much  more  on  the  events  of  France 
than  any  body  had  before  imagined.  The  tide  which,  after  our 
former  relaxed  government,  took  a  violent  course  to\vard  the 
opposite  extreme,  and  seemed  ready  to  hang  everything  round 
with  the  trssels  and  baubles  of  monarchy,  is  now  getting  back- 
as  we  hope  to  a  just  means,  a  government  of  laws  addressed  to 
the  reason  of  the  people,  and  not  to  their  weaknesses.'  (To  T.  M.  t 
Randolph,  1793.  F.  VI.,  157.) 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — The  death  of  the  King  of  France  has 
not  produced  as  open  condemnations  from  the  Monocrats  as 
I  expected.  I  dined  the  other  day  in  a  company  where  the  sub 
ject  was  discussed.  I  will  name  the  company  in  the  order  in 
which  they  manifested  their  partialities;  beginning  with  the 
warmest  Jacobinism  and  proceeding  by  shades  to  the  most 
heartfelt  aristocracy.  Smith  (N.  Y.),  Coxe,  Stewart,  T.  Ship- 
pen,  Bingham,  Peters,  Breck,  Meredith,  Wolcott.  It  is  certain 
that  the  ladies  of  this  city  [Philadelphia]  of  the  first  circle  are 
all  open-mouthed  against  the  murderers  of  a  sovereign,  and 
they  generally  speak  those  sentiments  which  the  more  cautious 
husband  smothers.  (To  James  Madison,  1793.  F.  VI. ,  192.) 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — The  war  between  France  and  England 
seems  to  be  producing  an  effect  not  contemplated.  All  the  old 
spirit  of  1776  is  rekindling.  The  newspapers  from  Boston  to 
Charleston  prove  this;  and  even  the  Monocrat  papers  are  obliged 
to  publish  the  most  furious  Philippics  against  England.  A 
French  frigate  took  a  British  prize  off  the  capes  of  Delaware 
the  other  day  and  sent  her  up  here.  Upon  her  coming  into  sight 
thousands  and  thousands  of  the  yeomanry  of  the  city  crowded 


228  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

and  covered  the  wharves.  Never  before  was  such  a  crowd  seen 
there,  and  when  the  British  colors  were  seen  reversed  and  the 
French  flying  above  them,  they  burst  into  peals  of  exultation. 
I  wish  we  may  be  able  to-  repress  the  spirit  of  the  people  within 
the  limits  of  a  fair  neutrality.  (To  James  Monroe,  1793.  F. 
VI.,  238.) 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — I  am  happy  in  a  safe  occasion  of  an 
swering  you  that  I  continue  eternally  attached  to  the  princi 
ples  of  your  revolution.  I  hope  it  will  end  in  the  establishment 
of  some  firm  government  friendly  to>  liberty  and  capable  of 
maintaining  it.  If  it  does  not,  I  feel  that  the  zealous  apostles 
of  English  despotism  here  will  increase  the  number  of  its 
disciples.  However,  we  shall  still  remain  free.  Though  they 
may  harass  our  spirits,  they  cannot  make  impressions  on  our 
center.  (To  Jean  Pierre  Brissot,  1793.  F.  VI.,  249.) 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — The  French  have  been  guilty  of  great 
errors  in  their  conduct  toward  other  nations,  not  only  insulting 
uselessly  all  crowned  heads,  but  endeavoring  to  force  liberty 
on  their  neighbors,  in  their  own  form.  They  seem  to  be  cor 
recting  themselves  in  the  latter  point.  (To  T.  M.  Randolph, 
1793.  F.  VI.,  318.) 

FRENCH  REVOLUTION. — Your  letters  give  a  comfortable  view 
of  French  affairs,  and  later  events  seem  to  confirm  it.  Over  the 
foreign  powers  I  am  convinced  they  will  triumph  completely, 
and  I  cannot  but  hope  that  that  triumph  and  the  consequent 
disgrace  of  the  invading  tyrants  is  destined,  in  the  order  of 
events,  to  kindle  the  wrath  of  the  people  of  Europe  against 
those  who  have  dared  to  embroil  them  in  such  wickedness,  and 
to  bring  at  length  kings,  nobles  and  priests  to  the  scaffold 
which  they  have  been  so>  long  deluging  with  human  blood. 
I  am  still  warm  whenever  I  think  of  these  scoundrels,  though  I 
do  it  as  seldom  as  I  can,  preferring  infinitely  to  contemplate 
the  tranquil  growth  of  my  lucern  and  potatoes.  (To  Tench 
Coxe,  1794.  F.  VI,  508.) 

FRENEAU. — He  (Washington)  adverted  to  a  piece  in  Freneau's 
paper  of  yesterday;  he  said  he  despised  all  their  attacks  on  him 
personally,  but  that  there  had  never  been  an  act  of  the  govern- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  229 

ment,  not  meaning  the  executive  line  only,  but  in  any  line 
which  that  paper  had  not  abused.  *  *  *  He  was  evidently 
sore  and  warm,  and  I  took  his  intention  to  be  that  I  should 
interfere  in  some  way  with  Freneau,  perhaps  withdraw  his  ap 
pointment  of  translating  clerk  to  my  office.  But  I  will  not  do 
it.  His  paper  has  saved  our  Constitution,  which  was  galloping 
fast  into  monarchy  and  has  been  checked  by  no  one  means  so 
powerfully  as  by  that  paper.  It  is  well  and  universally  known 
that  it  has  been  that  paper  which  has  checked  the  career  of  the 
Monocrats,  and  the  President  not  sensible  of  the  designs  of  the 
party  has  not  with  his  usual  good  sense  and  sang  froid  looked 
on  the  efforts  and  effects  of  this  free  press,  and  seen  that  though 
some  bad  things  have  passed  through  it  to  the  public  yet  the 
good  have  preponderated  immensely.  (Anas,  1793.  C.  VIII., 

I45-) 

FRIENDSHIP. — When  languishing  under  disease,  how  grateful 
is  the  solace  of  our  friends!  How  we  are  penetrated  with  their 
assiduities  and  attentions!  How  much  are  we  supported  by 
their  encouragement  and  kind  offices!  When  heaven  has  taken 
from  us  some  object  of  our  love,  how  sweet  it  is  to  have  a  bosom 
whereon  to  recline  our  heads  and  into  which  we  may  pour  the 
torrent  of  our  tears!  Grief,  with  such  a  comfort,  is  almost  a 
luxury!  Friendship  is  precious,  not  only  in  the  shade  but  in  the 
sunshine  of  life;  and  thanks  to  a  benevolent  arrangement  of 
things,  the  greater  part  of  life  is  sunshine.  I  will  recur  for  proof 
to  the  days  we  have  lately  passed.  On  these  indeed  the  sun 
shone  brightly.  How  gay  did  the  face  of  nature  appear!  Hills, 
valleys,  chateaux,  gardens,  rivers,  every  object  wore  its  loveliest 
hue!  Whence  did  they  borrow  it?  From  the  presence  of  our 
charming  companion.  They  were  pleasing  because  she  seemed 
pleased.  Alone  the  scene  would  have  been  dull  and  insipid; 
the  participation  of  it  with  her  gave  relish.  Let  the  gloomy 
monk,  sequestered  from  the  world,  seek  unsocial  pleasures  in 
the  bottom  of  his  cell;  let  the  sublimated  philosopher  grasp 
visionary  happiness  while  pursuing  phantoms  dressed  in  the 
garb  of  truth.  Their  supreme  wisdom  is  supreme  folly.  Had 
they  ever  felt  the  solid  pleasure  of  one  generous  spasm  of  the 


230  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

heart,  they  would  exchange  it  for  all  the  frigid  speculations  of 
their  lives.  Believe  me,  then,  my  friend,  that  that  is  a  miserable 
arithmetic  which  could  estimate  friendship  at  nothing.  (From 
a  letter  to  Mrs.  Maria  Cosway,  written  in  Paris,  1786.  F.  IV., 

3190 

FRIENDSHIP. — The  way  to  make  friends  quarrel  is  to  put  them 

in  disputation  under  the  public  eye.     An  experience  of  near 
twenty  years  has  taught  me  that  few  friendships  stand  this  test, 
and  that  public  assemblies,  where  every  one  is  free  to  act  and 
speak,  are  the  most  powerful  looseners  of  the  bands  of  private 
friendship.      (To  George  Washington,  1784.     F.  III.,  466.) 
-^FUGITIVE  DEBTORS. — To'  remit  the  fugitive  from  debt  would 
be  to  remit  him  in  every  case,  for  in  the  present  state  of  things 
it  is  next  to  impossible  not  to  owe  something.     But  I  see 
neither  injustice  nor  inconvenience  in  permitting  the  fugitive 
to  be  sued  in  our  courts.    The  laws  of  some  countries  punishing- 
the  unfortunate  debtor  by  perpetual  imprisonment,  he  is  right 
to  liberate  himself  by  flight,  and  it  would  be  wrong  to  re-im 
prison  him  in  the  country  to  which  he  flies.     Let  all  process, 
therefore,  be  confined  to  his  property.    (From  a  report  on  con-  >• 
vention  with  Spain,  1792.    F.  V.,  484.) 

GENET. — Never  in  my  opinion  was  so  calamitous  an  appoint 
ment  made  as  that  of  the  present  Minister  of  France  here.  Hot 
headed,  all  imagination,  no  judgment,  passionate,  disrespectful 
and  even  indecent  towards  the  President  in  his  written  as  well 
as  verbal  communications,  talking  of  appeals  from  him  to  Con 
gress,  from  them  to  the  people,  urging  the  most  unreasonable 
and  groundless  propositions,  and  the  most  dictatorial  style. 
(To  James  Madison,  1793.  F.  VI.,  339.) 

GENET. — Genet  has  thrown  down  the  gauntlet  to  the  President 
by  the  publication  of  his  letter  and  my  answer,  and  is  himself 
forcing  that  appeal  and  risking  that  disgust  which  I  had  so 
much  wished  should  have  been  avoided.  The  indications  from 
different  parts  of  the  continent  are  already  sufficient  to  show 
that  the  mass  of  the  Republican  interest  has  no  hesitation  to 
disapprove  of  this  intermeddling  by  a  foreigner,  and  the  more 
readily  as  his  object  was  evidently,  contrary  to  his  professions, 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  231 

to  force  us  into  the  war.  I  am  not  certain  whether  some  of  the 
more  furious  Republicans  may  not  schismatize  with  him.  (To 
James  Madison,  1793.  F.  VI,  398.) 

GENIUS. — But  you,  sir,  who  have  received  from  me  the  recom 
mendations  of  a  Rittenhouse,  Barlow,  Paine,  will  believe  that 
talents  and  science  are  sufficient  motives  with  me  in  appoint 
ments  to  which  they  are  fitted,  and  that  Freneau  as  a  man  of 
genius  might  find  favor  in  my  eye.  *  *  *  I  hold  it  to  be 
one  of  the  distinguishing  excellencies  of  election  over  hereditary 
successions  that  the  talents  which  nature  has  provided  in  suffi 
cient  proportion  should  be  selected  by  the  society  for  the  gov 
ernment  of  their  affairs,  rather  than  this  should  be  transmitted 
throug'h  the  loins  of  knaves  and  fools,  passing  from  debauches 
of  the  table  to  those  of  the  bed.  (To  Washington,  1792.  F. 
VL,  107.) 

GEORGE  III. — Open  your  breast,  sire,  to  liberal  and  expanded 
thought.  Let  not  the  name  of  George  the  Third  be  a  blot  in  the 
page  of  history.  You  have  no  Minister  for  American  affairs, 
because  you  have  none  taken  up  from  among  us,  nor  amenable 
to  the  laws  on  which  they  are  to  give  you  advice.  It  behooves 
you,  therefore,  to  think  and  act  for  yourself  and  the  people. 
*  *  *  The  whole  art  of  government  consists  in  the  art  of 
being  honest.  Only  aim  to  do  your  duty  and  mankind  will 
give  you  credit  where  you  fail.  No  longer  persevere  in  sacrific 
ing  the  rights  of  one  part  of  the  empire  to  the  inordinate  de 
sires  of  another;  but  deal  out  to  all,  equal  and  impartial  right. 
(From  "A  Summary  View,"  1774.  F.  I.,  446.) 

GEORGE  III. — The  following  is  an  epitome  of  the  first  six 
teen  years  of  his  (George  Ill's)  reign:  The  colonies  were  taxed 
internally  and  externally;  their  essential  interests  sacrificed  to 
individuals  in  Great  Britain;  their  Legislatures  suspended;  char 
ters  annulled;  trials  by  jury  taken  away;  their  persons  subjected 
to  transportation  across  the  Atlantic  and  to  trial  before  foreign 
judicatories;  their  supplications  for  redress  thought  beneath 
answer;  armed  troops  sent  among  them  to  enforce  submission 
to  these  violences;  and  actual  hostilities  commenced  against 
them.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  221.) 


232  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

GEORGE  III. — We  have  a  blind  story  here  of  somebody  at 
tempting  to  assassinate  your  King.  No  man  on  earth  has  my 
prayers  for  his  continuance  in  life  more  sincerely  than  he.  He 
is  truly  the  American  Messias,  the  most  precious  life  that  ever 
God  gave.  And  may  God  continue  it.  Twenty  long  years 
has  he  been  laboring  to  drive  us  to  our  good  and  he  labors 
and  will  labor  still  for  it  if  he  can  be  spared.  We  shall  have 
need  of  him  for  twenty  more.  The  Prince  of  Wales  on  the 
throne,  Landsdown  and  Fox  in  the  Ministry  and  we  are  un 
done!  We  become  chained  by  our  habits  to  the  tails  of  those 
who  hate  and  despise  us.  I  repeat  it  then  that  my  anxieties 
are  all  alive  for  the  health  and  long  life  of  the  King.  He  has 
not  a  friend  on  earth  who  would  lament  his  loss  as  much  and 
so  long  as  I  should.  (Written  to  Mrs.  John  Adams  from  Paris, 
1786.  F.  IV.,  262.) 

GOOD  HUMOR. — Without  that  bright  fancy  which  captivates, 
I  am  in  hopes  he  possesses  sound  judgment  and  much  observa 
tion;  and,  what  I  value  more  than  all  things,  good  humor. 
For  thus  I  estimate  the  qualities  of  the  mind:  I,  good  humor; 
2,  integrity;  3,  industry;  4,  science.  The  preference  of  the  first 
to  the  second  quality  may  not  at  first  be  acquiesced  in;  but 
certainly  we  had  all  rather  associate  with  a  good-humored,  light- 
principled  man,  than  with  an  ill-tempered  rigorist  in  morality. 
(;To  Dr.  Rush,  1808.  C.  V.,  226.) 

"^GOVERNMENT. — The  opinions  of  men  are  not  the  object  of 
civil  government.  To  suffer  the  civil  magistrate  to  intrude  4iis 
powers  into  the  field  of  opinion  and  to  restrain  the  profession 
or  propagation  of  principles  on  supposition  of  their  ill  tendency 
is  a  dangerous  fallacy,  which  at  once  destroys  all  religious  liberty, 
because  he  being  of  course  judge  of  that  tendency  will  make 
his  opinions  the  rule  of  judgment,  and  approve  or  condemn  the 
sentiments  of  others  only  as  they  shall  square  with  or  differ  from 
his  own.  It  is  time  enough  for  the  rightful  purposes  of  civiP 
government  for  its  officers  to  interfere  when  principles  break 
out  into  overt  acts  against  peace  and  good  order.  (From  a  bill^ 
for  establishing  religious  freedom,  1779.  F.  II.,  239.) 

GOVERNMENT. — In  every  government  on  earth  is  some  trace  of 


OF  THOMAS   JEFFERSON  233 

human  weakness,  some  germ  of  corruption  and  degeneracy, 
which  cunning  wrill  discover,  and  wickedness  insensibly  open, 
cultivate  and  improve.  Every  government  degenerates  when 
trusted  to  the  rulers  of  the  people  alone.  The  people,  them 
selves,  therefore,  are  its  only  safe  depositaries.  And  to  render^ 
even  them  safe,  their  minds  must  be  improved  to  a  certain 
degree.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  254.) 

GOVERNMENT. — It  has  been  said  that  our  governments,  both 
Federal  and  particular,  want  energy;  that  it  is  difficult  to  restrain 
both  individuals  and  States  from  committing  wrong.  This  is 
true  and  it  is  an  inconvenience.  On  the  other  hand  that  en 
ergy  which  absolute  governments  derive  from  an  armed  force, 
which  is  the  effect  of  the  bayonet  constantly  held  at  the  breast 
of  every  citizen,  and  which  resembles  very  much  the  stillness  of 
the  grave,  must  be  admitted  also  to  have  its  inconveniences. 
We  weigh  the  two  together  and  like  best  to  submit  to  the  for 
mer.  Compare  the  number  of  wrongs  committed  with  impunity 
by  citizens  among  us,  with  those  committed  by  the  sovereign 
in  other  countries,  and  the  last  will  be  found  most  numerous, 
most  oppressive  on  the  mind,  and  most  degrading  of  the  dignity 
of  man.  (From  questions  propounded  by  M.  De  Meusnier, 
1786.  F.  IV.,  147-) 

GOVERNMENT. — The  first  principle  of  a  good  government  ib" 
certainly  a  distribution  of  its  powers  into  executive,  judiciary, 
and  legislative,  and  a  subdivision  of  the  latter  into  two  or 
three  branches.  (To  John  Adams,  1787.  F.  IV.,  454.) 

GOVERNMENT. — Though  civil  government  duly  framed  and 
administered  be  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  and  most  powerful 
instruments  for  procuring  safety  and  happiness  to  men  collected 
in  large  societies,  yet  such  is  the  proneness  of  those  to  whom 
its  powers  are  necessarily  deputed  to  prevent  them  to  the  at 
tainment  of  personal  wealth  and  dominion  and  to  the  utter  op 
pression  of  their  fellow  men  that  it  has  become  questionable 
whether  the  condition  of  our  aboriginal  neighbors  who  live 
without  laws  or  magistracies  be  not  preferable  to  that  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  nations  of  the  earth  who  feel  their  laws  and 


234  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

magistrates  but  in  the  weight  of  their  burdens.    (From  Petition 
on  Election  of  Jurors,  1798.    F.  VII.,  284.) 

GOVERNMENT. — To  cultivate  peace  and  maintain  commerce 
and  navigation  in  all  their  lawful  enterprises;  to  foster  our  fish 
eries  and  nurseries  of  navigation  and  for  the  nurture  of  man, 
and  protect  the  manufactures  adapted  to  our  circumstances; 
to  preserve  the  faith  of  the  nation  by  an  exact  discharge  of  its 
debts  and  contracts,  expend  the  public  money  with  the  same 
care  and  economy  we  would  practice  with  our  own,  and  im 
pose  on  our  citizens  no  unnecessary  burden;  to  keep  in  all  things 
within  the  pale  of  our  rock  of  safety — these,  fellow-citizens, 
are  the  landmarks  by  which  we  are  to  guide  ourselves  in  all  our 
proceedings.  By  continuing  to  make  these  our  rule  of  action,  we 
shall  endear  to  our  countrymen  the  true  principles  of  their 
Constitution,  and  promote  a  union  of  sentiment  and  of  action 
equally  auspicious  to  their  happiness  and  safety.  (From  the 
Second  Annual  Message,  1802.  F.  VIII. ,  186.) 
^GOVERNMENT. — The  only  orthodox  object  of  the  institution*^ 
of  government  is  to  secure  the  greatest  degree  of  happiness 
possible  to  the  general  mass  of  those  associated  under  it. 
Unless  the  mass  retains  sufficient  control  over  those 
intrusted  with  the  powers  of  their  government,  these  will  be  per 
verted  to  their  own  oppression,  and  to  the  perpetuation  of 
wealth  and  power  in  the  individuals  and  their  families  selected 
for  the  trust.  Whether  our  Constitution  has  hit  on  the  exact> 
degree  of  control  necessary,  is  yet  under  experiment;  and  ic  is 
a  most  encouraging  reflection  that  distance  and  other  difficulties 
securing  us  against  the  brigand  governments  of  Europe,  in 
the  safe  enjoyment  of  our  farms  and  firesides,  the  experiment 
stands  a  better  chance  of  being  satisfactorily  made  here  than 
on  any  occasion  yet  presented  by  history.  (To  Vander  Kemp, 
1812.  C.VI.,45-) 

GOVERNMENT. — Every  society  has  a  right  to  fix  the  funda 
mental  principles  of  its  association,  and  to  say  to  all  individuals, 
that,  if  they  contemplate  pursuits  beyond  the  limits  of  these 
principles,  and  involving  dangers  which  the  society  chooses  to 
avoid,  they  must  go  somewhere  else  for  their  exercise;  that  we 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  235 

want  no  citizens,  and  still  less  ephemeral  and  pseudo-citizens, 
on  such  terms.  We  may  exclude  them  from  our  territory,  as 
we  do  persons  infected  with  disease.  Such  is  the  situation  of 
our  country.  We  have  most  abundant  resources  of  happiness 
within  ourselves,  which  we  may  enjoy  in  peace  and  safety, 
without  permitting  a  few  citizens  infected  with  the  mania  of 
rambling  and  gambling  to  bring  danger  on  the  great  mass  en 
gaged  in  innocent  and  safe  pursuits  at  home.  *  *  *  A  gov- 
'ernment  regulating  itself  by  what  is  wise  and  just  for  the  many, 
uninfluenced  by  the  local  and  selfish  views  of  the  few  who  direct 
their  affairs,  has  not  been  seen,  perhaps,  on  earth.  Or  if  it  ex 
isted,  for  a  moment,  at  the  birth  of  ours,  it  would  not  be  easy 
to  fix  the  term  of  its  continuance.  Still,  I  believe  it  does  exist 
here  in  a  greater  degree  than  anywhere  else.  (To  W.  H.  Craw 
ford,  1816.  C.  VII.,  6.) 

off  GOVERNMENT. — But  when  we  come  to  the  moral  principles 
on  which  the  government  is  to  be  administered,  we  come  to 
what  is  proper  for  all  conditions  of  society.     I  meet  you  there 
in  all  the  benevolence  and  rectitude  of  your  native  character; 
and  I  love  myself  always  most  where  I  concur  most  with  you. 
Liberty,  truth,  probity,  honor,  are  declared  to  be  the  four  cardi 
nal  principles  of  your  society.    I  believe  with  you  that  morality^ 
compassion,  generosity,  are  innate  elements  of  the  human  con 
stitution;  that  there  exists  a  right  independent  of  force;  that  a 
right  to  property  is  founded  in  our  natural  wants,  in  the  meanSjC 
with  which  we  are  endowed  to  satisfy  these  wants,  and  then 
right  to  what  we  acquire  by  those  means  without  violating  the( 
similar  rights  of  other  sensible  beings;  that  no  one  has  a  right  to^ 
obstruct  another,  exercising  his  faculties  innocently  for  the  re-  \ 
lief  of  sensibilities  made  a  part  of  his  nature;  that  justice  is  the/' 
fundamental  law  of  society;  that  the  majority,  oppressing  an  in-i 
dividual,  is  guilty  of  a  crime,  abuses  its  strength,  and  by  acting  J 
on  the  law  of  the  strongest  breaks  up  the  foundations  of  society  :J^ 
that  action  by  the  citizens  in  person,  in  affairs  within  their  reach 
and  competence,  and  in  all  others  by  representatives,  chosen  im 
mediately,  and  removable  by  themselves,  constitutes  the  essence 
of  a  republic ;  that  all  governments  are  more  or  less  Republican 


236  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

in  proportion  as  their  principle  enters  more  or  less  into  their 
composition;  and  that  a  government  by  representation  is  ca 
pable  of  extension  over  a  greater  surface  of  country  than  one 
of  any  other  form.  These,  my  friend,  are  the  essentials  in 
which  you  and  I  agree;  however,  in  our  zeal  for  their  mainte 
nance,  we  may  be  perplexed  and  divaricate,  as  to  the  structure 
of  society  most  likely  to  secure  them.  (To  Dupont  de  Nemours, 
1816.  C.  VI,  591.) 

GRAND  JURIES. — Grand  juries  are  the  Constitutional  inquisi 
tors  and  informers  of  the  country ;  they  are  scattered  everywhere, 
see  everything,  see  it  while  they  suppose  themselves  mere  pri 
vate  persons,  and  not  with  the  prejudiced  eye  of  a  permanent 
and  systematic  spy.  Their  information  is  on  oath,  is  public, 
it  is  in  the  vicinage  of  the  party  charged,  and  can  be  at  once 
refuted.  .  These  officers,  taken  only  occasionally  from  among 
the  people,  are  familiar  to  them,  the  office  respected  and  the 
experience  of  centuries  has  shewn  that  it  is  safely  intrusted  with 
our  character,  property  and  liberty.  (From  an  opinion  sub 
mitted  to  the  Attorney-General,  1793.  F.  VI.,  245.) 

GREAT  BRITAIN. — The  spirit  in  which  she  [Britain]  wages  war, 
does  not  seem  the  legitimate  offspring  either  of  science  or  civil 
ization.  The  sun  of  her  glory  is  fast  descending  to  the  horizon. 
Her  philosophy  has  crossed  the  channel,  her  freedom  the  At 
lantic,  and  herself  seems  passing  to  that  awful  dissolution  whose 
issue  is  not  given  human  foresight  to  scan.  (From  "Notes  on 
Virginia,"  1782.  F.  Ill,  170.) 

GRIEF. — I  have  often  wondered  for  what  good  end  the  sensa 
tion  of  grief  could  be  intended.  All  other  passions,  within 
proper  bounds,  have  a  useful  object.  And  the  perfection  of 
the  moral  character  is,  not  in  a  stoical  apathy,  so  hypocritically 
vaunted,  and  so  truly  too,  because  impossible,  but  in  a  just 
equilibrium  of  all  the  passions.  I  wish  the  pathologist  then 
would  tell  us  what  is  the  use  of  grief  in  the  economy,  and  of 
what  good  it  is  the  cause,  proximate  or  remote.  (To  John 
Adams,  1816.  C.  VI,  575.) 

HABEAS  CORPUS. — The  benefits  of  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus 
shall  be  extended,  by  the  Legislature,  to  every  person  within 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  237 

this  State,  and  without  fee,  and  shall  be  so  facilitated  that  no 
person  may  be  detained  in  prison  more  than  ten  days  after  he 
shall  have  demanded  and  been  refused  such  a  writ  by  the  judge 
appointed  by  law  *  *  *  nor  more  than  ten  days  after  such 
writ  shall  have  been  served  on  the  person  detaining  him,  and 
no  order  given,  or  due  examination,  for  its  remandment  or  dis 
charge.  (From  a  proposed  Constitution  for  Virginia,  1782. 
F.  III.,  332-) 

HABEAS  CORPUS. — Why  suspend  the  Habeas  Corpus  in  insur 
rections  and  rebellions?  If  public  safety  requires  that  the  Gov 
ernment  should  have  a  man  imprisoned  on  less  probable  testi 
mony  in  those  than  in  other  emergencies,  let  him  be  taken  and 
tried,  retaken  and  retried,  while  the  necessity  continues,  only 
giving  him  redress  against  the  Government  for  damages.  Ex 
amine  the  history  of  England.  See  how  few  of  the  cases  of  the 
suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  law  have  been  worthy  of  that 
suspension.  They  have  been  either  real  treason  wherein  the 
parties  might  as  well  have  been  charged  at  once,  or  sham  plots 
where  it  was  shameful  they  should  ever  have  been  suspected. 
Yet  for  the  few  cases  wherein  the  suspension  of  the  Habeas 
Corpus  has  done  real  good,  that  operation  is  now  become  habit 
ual,  and  the  minds  of  the  nation  almost  prepared  to  live  under  its 
constant  suspension.  (To  James  Madison,  1788.  F.  V.,  46.) 

HABITS  OF  JEFFERSON. — I  live  so  much  like  other  people,  that 
I  might  refer  to  ordinary  life  as  the  history  of  my  own.  Like  my 
friend  the  Doctor,  I  have  lived  temperately,  eating  little  animal 
food,  and  that  not  as  an  aliment,  so  much  as  a  condiment,  for 
the  vegetables,  which  constitute  my  principle  diet.  I  double, 
however,  the  Doctor's  glass  and  a  half  of  wine,  and  even  treble 
it  with  a  friend;  but  halve  its  effects  by  drinking  the  weak  wines 
only.  The  ardent  wines  I  cannot  drink,  nor  do  I  use  ardent 
spirits  in  any  form.  Malt  liquors  and  cider  are  my  table  drinks, 
and  my  breakfast,  like  that  also  of  my  friend,  is  of  tea  and 
coffee.  I  have  been  blest  with  organs  of  digestion  which  accept 
and  concoct,  without  ever  murmuring,  whatever  the  palate 
chooses  to  consign  to  them,  and  I  have  not  yet  lost  a  tooth  by 
age.  I  was  a  hard  student  until  I  entered  on  the  business  of 


238  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

life,  the  duties  of  which  have  no  idle  time  to  those  disposed  to 
fulfill  them;  and  now,  retired,  and  at  the  age  of  seventy-six,  I 
am  again  a  hard  student.  Indeed,  my  fondness  for  reading  and 
study  revolts  me  from  the  drudgery  of  letter  writing.  And  a 
stiff  wrist,  the  consequence  of  an  early  dislocation,  makes  writ 
ing  both  slow  and  painful.  I  am  not  so  regular  in  my  sleep 
as  the  Doctor  says  he  was,  devoting  to  it  from  five  to  eight 
hours,  according  as  my  company  or  the  book  I  am  reading 
interests  me;  and  I  never  go  to  bed  without  an  hour,  or  a 
half  hour's  previous  reading  of  something  moral,  whereon  to 
ruminate  in  the  intervals  of  sleep.  But  whether  I  retire  to  bed 
early  or  late,  I  rise  with  the  sun.  I  use  spectacles  at  night, 
but  not  necessarily  in  the  day,  unless  in  reading  small  print. 
My  hearing  is  distinct  in  particular  conversation,  but  con 
fused  when  several  voices  cross  each  other,  which  unfits  me  for 
the  society  of  the  table.  I  have  been  more  fortunate  than  my 
friend  in  the  article  of  health.  So  free  from  catarrhs  that  I  have 
not  had  one,  (in  the  breast,  I  mean)  on  an  average  of  eight  or 
ten  years  through  life.  I  ascribe  this  exemption  partly  to  the 
habit  of  bathing  my  feet  in  cold  water  every  morning,  for 
sixty  years  past.  A  fever  of  more  than  twenty-four  hours  I 
have  not  had  above  two  or  three  times  in  my  life.  A  periodical 
headache  has  afflicted  me  occasionally,  once,  perhaps,  in  six  or 
eight  years,  for  two  or  three  weeks  at  a  time,  which  seems  now 
to  have  left  me;  and  except  on  a  late  occasion  of  indisposition, 
I  enjoy  good  health;  too  feeble,  indeed,  to  walk  much,  but 
riding  without  fatigue  six  or  eight  miles  a  day  and  sometimes 
thirty  or  forty.  I  may  end  these  egotisms,  therefore,  as  I  began, 
by  saying  that  my  life  has  been  SO'  much  like  that  of  other 
people,  that  I  might  say  with  Horace,  to  every  one  ''nomine1 
mutato,  narratur  fabula  de  te."  (To  Doctor  Vine  Utley,  1819. 
C.  VII.,  116.) 

HAMILTON. — But  Hamilton  was  not  only  a  monarchist  but  for 
a  monarchy  bottomed  on  corruption.  In  proof  of  this,  I  will 
relate  an  anecdote  for  the  truth  of  which  I  attest  the  God 
who  made  me.  Before  the  President  set  out  on  his  Southern 
tour  in  April,  1791,  he  addressed  a  letter  of  the  fourth  of  that 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  239 

month,  from  Mount  Vernon,  to  the  Secretaries  of  State,  Treas 
ury,  and  War,  desiring  that  if  any  serious  and  important  cases 
should  arise  during  his  absence  they  would  consult  and  act  on 
them.  And  he  requested  that  the  Vice-President  should  also 
be  consulted.  This  was  the  only  occasion  in  which  that  officer 
was  ever  requested  to  take  part  in  a  Cabinet  question.  Some 
occasions  for  consultation  arising,  I  invited  these  gentlemen 
(and  the  Attorney-General,  as  well  as  I  remember)  to  dine  with 
me,  in  order  to  confer  on  the  subject.  After  the  cloth  was  re 
moved,  and  our  question  agreed  and  dismissed,  conversation 
began  on  other  matters,  and  by  some  circumstance  was  led  to 
the  British  Constitution  on  which  Mr.  Adams  observed,  "purge 
that  Constitution  of  its  corruption,  and  give  to  its  popular 
branch  equality  of  representation,  and  it  would  be  the  most  per 
fect  Constitution  ever  devised  by  the  wit  of  man."  Hamilton 
paused  and,  said,  "purge  it  of  its  corruption  and  give  to  its  pop 
ular  branch  equality  of  representation  and  it  would  become  an 
impracticable  government;  as  it  stands  at  present,  with  all  its 
supposed  defects,  it  is  the  most  perfect  government  which  ever 
existed."  And  this  was  assuredly  the  exact  line  which  separated 
the  political  creed  of  these  two  gentlemen.  The  one  was  for 
two  hereditary  branches,  and  an  honest  elective  one;  the  other 
for  an  hereditary  king  with  a  House  of  Lords  and  Commons 
corrupted  to  his  will,  and  standing  between  him  and  the  people. 
Hamilton  has  indeed  a  singular  character.  Of  acute  under 
standing,  disinterested,  honest,  and  honorable  in  all  private 
transactions,  amiable  in  society,  and  duly  valuing  virtue  in 
private  life,  yet  so  bewitched  and  perverted  by  the  British  ex 
ample  as  to  be  under  thorough  conviction  that  corruption  was 
essential  to  the  government  of  a  nation.  (Anas,  1791.  C. 
IX.,  96.) 

HAMILTON. — That  I  have  utterly  in  my  private  conversations 
disapproved  of  the  system  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
Alexander  Hamilton,  I  acknowledge  and  avow;  and  this  was 
not  a  merely  speculative  difference.  His  system  flowed  from 
principles  adverse  to  liberty  and  was  calculated  to  undermine 
and  demolish  the  republic,  by  creating  an  influence  of  his  de- 


240  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

partment  over  the  members  of  the  Legislature.  I  saw  this  in 
fluence  actually  produced,  and  its  first  fruits  to  be  the  establish 
ment  of  the  great  outlines  of  his  project  by  the  votes  of  the 
very  persons  who,  having  swallowed  his  bait,  were  laying  them 
selves  out  to  profit  by  his  plans;  and  that  had  these  persons 
withdrawn  as  those  interested  in  a  question  ever  should,  the 
vote  of  the  disinterested  majority  was  clearly  the  reverse  of  what 
they  made  it.  These  were  no  longer  then  the  votes  of  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  people,  but  of  deserters  from  the  rights  and 
interests  of  the  people.  (To  Washington,  1792.  F.  VI.,  102.) 
"^  HAMILTON. — My  objection  to  the  Constitution  was  that  it 
wanted  a  bill  of  rights  securing  freedom  of  religion,  freedom 
of  the  press,  freedom  from  standing  armies,  trial  by  jury,  and 
a  constant  Habeas  Corpus  act.  Colonel  Hamilton's  was  that  it 
wanted  a  king  and  house  of  lords.  The  sense  of  America  has 
approved  my  objection  and  added  the  bill  of  rights,  not  the  king 
and  lords.  I  also  thought  a  longer  term  of  service,  insusceptible 
of  renewal  would  have  made  a  President  more  independent. 
My  country  has  thought  otherwise,  and  I  have  acquiesced 
implicitly.  He  wishes  the  general  government  should  have 
power  to  make  laws  binding  the  States  in  all  cases  whatever. 
Our  country  has  thought  otherwise.  Has  he  acquiesced? 
(To  Washington,  1792.  F.  VI.,  105.) 

HAMILTON. — Though  I  see  the  pen  of  the  Secretary  of  Treas 
ury  plainly  in  the  attack  on  me,  yet  since  he  has  not  chosen  to 
put  his  name  to  it,  I  am  not  free  to  notice  it  as  his.  I  have 
preserved  through  life  a  resolution  set  in  a  very  early  part  of  it, 
never  to  write  in  a  public  paper  without  subscribing  my  name, 
and  not  to  engage  openly  an  adversary  who  does  not  let  him 
self  be  seen  in  staking  all  against  nothing.  The  indecency  too 
of  newspapers  squabbling  between  two  public  ministers,  beside 
my  own  sense  of  it,  has  drawn  something  like  an  injunction 
from  another  quarter  (Washington).  Every  fact  alleged  under 
the  signature  of  "An  American"  (Hamilton)  as  to  myself  is 
false,  and  can  be  proved  so;  and  perhaps  will  be  one  day.  But 
for  the  present  lying  and  scribbling  must  be  free  to  those  mean 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  241 

enough  to  deal  in  them.     (To  Edmund  Randolph,  1792.     F.  VI., 

112.) 

HAMILTON. — Hamilton  is  really  a  colossus  to  the  anti-Repub 
lican  party.  Without  numbers  he  is  a  host  within  himself.  They 
have  got  themselves  into  a  defile  where  they  might  be  finished; 
but  too  much  security  on  the  Republican  part  will  give  time  to 
his  talents  and  indefatigableness  to  extricate  them.  We  have 
had  only  middling  performances  to  oppose  him.  In  truth  when 
he  comes  forward  there  is  nobody  but  yourself  who  can  meet 
him.  (To  James  Madison,  1795.  F.  VII.,  32.) 

HAMILTON. — I  do  not  at  all  wonder  at  the  condition  in  which 
the  finances  of  the  United  States  are  found.  Hamilton's  object 
from  the  beginning  was  to  throw  them  into  forms  which  should 
be  utterly  indecipherable.  I  ever  said  he  did  not  understand  their 
condition  himself  nor  was  able  to  give  a  clear  view  of  the  excess 
of  our  debts  beyond  our  credits,  nor  whether  we  were  diminish 
ing  or  increasing  the  debt.  *  *  *  If  Mr.  Gallatin  would 
undertake  to  reduce  this  chaos  to  order,  present  us  with  a  clear 
view  of  our  finances  and  put  them  in  a  form  as  simple  as  they 
will  admit  he  will  merit  immortal  honor.  The  accounts  of  the 
United  States  ought  to  be  and  may  be  made  as  simple  as  those 
of  a  common  farmer  and  capable  of  being  understood  by  com 
mon  farmers.  (To  James  Madison,  1796.  F.  VII. ,  61.) 

HAMILTON. — Hamilton  set  out  on  a  different  plan.  In  order 
that  he  might  have  the  entire  government  of  his  machine,  he 
determined  so  to  complicate  it  as  that  neither  the  President 
or  Congress  should  be  able  to  understand  it,  or  to  control  him. 
He  succeeded  in  doing  this,  not  only  beyond  their  reach,  but  so 
that  he  at  length  could  not  unravel  it  himself.  He  gave  to  the 
debt,  in  the  first  instance,  in  funding  it,  the  most  artificial 
and  mysterious  form  he  could  devise.  He  then  moulded  up  his 
appropriations  of  a  number  of  scraps  and  remnants,  many  of 
which  were  nothing  at  all,  and  applied  them  to  different  objects 
in  reversion  and  remainder,  until  the  whole  system  was  involved 
in  impenetrable  fog;  and  while  he  was  giving  himself  the  airs 
of  providing  for  the  payment  of  the  debt,  he  left  himself  free 


242  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

to  add  to  i*  continually,  as  he  did  in  fact  instead  of  paying  it. 
(To  Albert  Gallatin,  1802.  F.  VIII.,  140.) 

HEALTH. — I  should  have  performed  the  office  of  but  half  a 
friend  were  I  to  confine  myself  to  the  improvement  of  the  mind 
only.  Knowledge  indeed  is  a  desirable,  a  lovely  possession,  but 
I  do  not  scruple  to  say  that  health  is  more  so.  It  is  of  little 
consequence  to  store  the  mind  with  science  if  the  body  be  per 
mitted  to  become  debilitated.  If  the  body  be  feeble,  the  mind 
will  not  be  strong.  The  sovereign  invigorator  of  the  body  is 
exercise  and  of  all  exercises,  walking  is  the  best.  (To  Thomas 
Mann  Randolph,  1786.  F.  IV.,  293.) 

HEALTH. — An  attention  to  health  should  take  place  of  every 
other  object.  The  time  necessary  to  secure  this  by  active  exer 
cises,  should  be  devoted  to  it  in  preference  to-  every  other  pur 
suit.  I  know  the  difficulty  with  which  a  studious  man  tears 
himself  from  his  studies  at  any  given  moment  of  the  day.  But 
his  happiness  and  that  of  his  family  depend  on  it.  The  most 
uninformed  mind  with  a  healthy  body,  is  happier  than  the 
wisest  valetudinarian.  (To  Thomas  Mann  Randolph,  1787.  F. 
IV.,  406.) 

HISTORY. — The  most  effectual  means  of  preventing  tyranny 
is  to  illuminate,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  minds  of  the  people 
at  large,  and  more  especially  to  give  them  knowledge  of  those 
facts,  which  history  exhibiteth,  that  possessed  thereby  of  the 
experience  of  other  ages  and  countries,  they  may  be  able  to 
know  artibition  under  all  its  shapes,  and  prompt  to  exert  their 
natural  powers  to  defeat  its  purposes.  (From  a  Bill  for  the 
Diffusion  of  Knowledge,  1779.  F.  II.,  221.) 

HISTORY. — But  of  all  the  views  of  this  law  relating  to  popular 
education  none  is  more  important,  none  more  legitimate,  than 
that  of  rendering  the  people  the  safe,  as  they  are  the  ultimate, 
guardians  of  their  own  liberties.  For  this  purpose  the  reading 
in  the  first  stage,  where  they  will  receive  their  whole  education, 
is  proposed  to  be  chiefly  historical.  History,  by  apprising  them 
of  the  past,  will  enable  them  to  judge  of  the  future;  it  will 
avail  them  of  the  experience  of  other  times  and  other  nations; 
will  qualify  them  as  judges  of  the  actions  and  designs  of  men; 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  243 

it  will  enable  them  to  know  ambition  under  every  disguise  it 
may  assume;  and  knowing  it  to  defeat  its  views.  (From  "Notes 
on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  254.) 

HISTORY. — While  you  are  attending  these  courses  you  can 
proceed  by  yourself  in  a  regular  series  of  historical  reading.  It 
would  be  waste  of  time  to  attend  a  professor  of  this.  It  is  to 
be  acquired  from  books,  and  if  you  pursue  it  by  yourself  you  can 
accommodate  it  to  your  reading  so  as  to  fill  up  those  chasms  of 
time  not  otherwise  appropriated.  There  are  portions  of  the 
day,  too,  when  the  mind  should  be  eased,  particularly  after 
dinner  it  should  be  applied  to  lighter  occupations;  history  is  of 
this  kind.  It  exercises  principally  the  memory.  Reflection  also 
indeed  is  necessary  but  not  generally  in  a  laborious  degree. 
(To  Thomas  Mann  Randolph,  1786.  F.  IV.,  291.) 

HISTORY. — You  say  I  must  go  to  writing  history.  While  in 
public  life  I  had  not  time,  and  now  that  I  am  retired,  I  am  past 
the  time.  To  write  history  requires  a  whole  life  of  observation, 
of  inquiry,  of  labor  and  correction.  (To  Dr.  J.  B.  Stuart,  1817. 
C.  VII.,  65.) 

HOME. — These  reveries  alleviate  the  toil  and  inquietudes  of 
my  present  situation,  and  leave  me  always  impressed  with  the 
desire  of  being  home  once  more,  and  of  exchanging  labor,  envy, 
and  malice  for  ease,  domestic  occupation,  and  domestic  love  and 
society;  where  I  may  once  more  be  happy  with  you,  with  Mr. 
Randolph  and  dear  little  Anne,  with  whom  even  Socrates  might 
ride  on  a  stick  without  being  ridiculous.  (To  Martha  Jefferson 
Randolph,  1792.  F.  V.,  422.) 

HOMER. — Homer  and  Virgil  have  been  the  rapture  of  every 
age  and  nation;  they  are  read  with  enthusiasm  in  their  originals 
by  those  who  can  read  the  originals,  and  in  the  translations  by 
those  who  cannot.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F. 
III.,  168.) 

£  IMMIGRATION. — The  present  desire  of  America  is  to  produce 
rapid  population  by  as  great  importation  of  foreigners  as  pos 
sible.  But  is  this  founded  in  good  policy?  The  advantage 
proposed  is  the  multiplication  of  numbers.  But  are  there  no 
inconveniences  to  be  thrown  into  the  scale  against  this  ad- 


244  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

vantage?    It  is  for  the  happiness  of  those  united  in  society  to 
harmonize  as  much  as  possible  in  matters  which  they  must  of 
necessity  transact  together.     Civil  government  being  the  sole* 
object   of  forming  societies,   its  administration  must  be  con 
ducted  by  common  consent.     Every  species  of  government  has| 
its  specific  principles.     Ours  perhaps  are  more  peculiar  than-* 
those  of  any  other  in  the  universe.     It  is  a  composition  of  the  , 
finest  principles  of  the  English  Constitution,  with  others  de-j  ' 
rived  from  natural  right  and  natural  reason.    To  these  nothingj 
can  be  more  opposed  than  the  maxims  of  absolute  monarchies.^ 
Yet  from  such  are  we  to  expect  the  greatest  number  of  emi 
grants.     They  will  bring  with  them  the  principles  of  govern 
ments  they  leave,  imbibed  in  their  early  youth;    or,  if  able  to 
throw  them  off,  it  will  be  in  exchange    for    an    unbounded 
licentiousness,  passing  as  is  usual  from  one  extreme  to  another. 
These  principles,  with  their  language,  they  will  transmit  to  their 
children.     In  proportion  to  their  numbers,  they  will  share  with 
us  in  the  legislation.     They  will  infuse  into  it  their  spirit,  warp 
and  bias  its  directions,  and  render  it  a  heterogeneous,  incoherent, 
distracted  mass.     (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.     F.  III., 
190.) 

IMMORTALITY. — I  will  not,  therefore,  by  useless  condolences, 
open  fresh  the  sluices  of  your  grief,  nor,  although  mingling 
sincerely  my  tears  with  yours,  will  I  say  a  word  more  where 
words  are  vain,  but  that  it  is  of  some  comfort  to  us  both,  that 
the  time  is  not  very  distant,  at  which  we  are  to  deposit  in  the 
same  cerement,  our  sorrows  and  suffering  bodies,  and  to  ascend 
in  essence  to  an  ecstatic  meeting  with  the  friends  we  have  loved 
and  lost,  and  whom  we  shall  still  love  and  never  lose  again. 
(To  John  Adams,  1818.  C.  VII.,  107.) 

IMPRESSMENT. — The  simplest  rule  will  be  that  the  vessel 
being  American  shall  be  evidence  that  the  seamen  on  board  her 
are  such.  If  they  apprehend  that  our  vessels  might  thus  be 
come  asylums  for  the  fugitives  of  their  own  nation  from  impress 
gangs,  the  number  of  men  to  be  protected  by  a  vessel  may  be 
limited  by  her  tonnage,  and  one  or  two  officers  only  permitted 
to  enter  the  vessel  in  order  to  examine  the  numbers  on  board; 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  245 

but  no  press-gang  should  be  allowed  to  go  on  board  an  Ameri 
can  vessel  till  after  it  shall  be  found  that  there  are  more  than 
their  stipulated  number  on  board,  nor  till  after  the  master  shall 
have  refused  to  deliver  the  supernumeraries  (to  be  named  by 
himself)  to  the  press  officer  who  has  come  on  board  for  that 
purpose,  and  even  then,  the  American  consul  should  be  called 
in.  (From  Instructions  to  British  Minister,  1792.  F.  VI.,  76.) 

IMPRESSMENT. — It  is  proposed,  I  observe,  to  register  seamen 
and  give  them  certificates  of  citizenship  to  protect  them  from 
foreign  impressment.  But  these  certificates  will  be  lost  in  a 
thousand  ways;  a  sailor  will  neglect  to  take  his  certificate;  he 
is  wet  twenty  times  in  a  voyage;  if  he  goes  ashore  without  it, 
he  is  impressed;  if  with  it,  he  gets  drunk,  it  is  lost,  stolen  from 
him,  taken  from  him,  and  then  the  want  of  it  gives  authority 
to  impress  which  does  not  exist  now.  After  ten  years'  attention 
to  the  subject  I  have  never  been  able  to  devise  anything  effectual 
but  the  circumstances  of  an  American  bottom  to  be  made  ipso 
facto,  a  protection  for  a  number  of  seamen  proportioned  to 
her  tonnage.  (To  William  Giles,  1796.  F.  VIL,  65.) 

IMPRESSMENT. — Our  particular  and  separate  grievance  is  only 
the  impressment  of  our  citizens.  We  must  sacrifice  the  last 
dollar  and  drop  of  blood  to  rid  us  of  that  badge  of  slavery;  and 
it  must  rest  with  England  alone  to  say  whether  it  is  worth 
eternal  war,  for  eternal  it  must  be  if  she  holds  to  the  wrong. 
She  will  probably  find  that  the  six  thousand  citizens  she  took 
from  us  by  impressment  have  already  cost  her  ten  thousand 
guineas  a  man,  and  will  cost  her,  in  addition,  the  half  of  that 
annually,  during  the  continuance  of  the  war,  besides  the  cap 
tures  on  the  ocean,  and  the  loss  of  our  commerce.  She  might 
certainly  find  cheaper  means  of  manning  her  fleet,  or,  if  to  be 
manned  at  this  expense,  her  fleet  will  break  her  down.  (To 
Mr.  Crawford,  1815.  C.  VI.,  418.) 

INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

"Friends  and  Fellow-Citizens: 

"Called  upon  to  undertake  the  duties  of  the  first  executive 
office  of  our  country,  I  avail  myself  of  the  presence  of  that  por- 


246  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

tion  of  my  fellow-citizens  which  is  here  assembled,  to  express 
my  grateful  thanks  for  the  favor  with  which  they  have  been 
pleased  to  look  towards  me,  to  declare  a  sincere  consciousness, 
that  the  task  is  above  my  talents,  and  that  I  approach  it  with 
those  anxious  and  awful  presentiments,  which  the  greatness  of 
the  charge,  and  the  weakness  of  my  powers,  so  justly  inspire. 
A  rising  nation,  spread  over  a  wide  and  fruitful  land,  traversing 
all  the  seas  with  the  rich  productions  of  their  industry,  engaged 
in  commerce  with  nations  who  feel  power  and  forget  right, 
advancing  rapidly  to  destinies  beyond  the  reach  of  mortal  eye; 
when  I  contemplate  these  transcendent  objects,  and  see  the 
honor,  the  happiness,  and  the  hopes  of  this  beloved  country 
committed  to  the  issue  and  the  auspices  of  this  clay,  I  shrink 
from  the  contemplation,  and  humble  myself  before  the  magni 
tude  of  the  undertaking.  Utterly,  indeed,  should  I  despair,  did 
not  the  presence  of  many,  whom  I  here  see,  remind  me,  that, 
in  the  other  high  authorities  provided  by  our  Constitution,  I 
shall  find  resources  of  wisdom,  of  virtue,  and  of  zeal,  on  which 
to  rely  under  all  difficulties.  To  you,  then,  gentlemen,  who  are 
charged  with  the  sovereign  functions  of  legislation,  and  to  those 
associated  with  you,  I  look  with  encouragement  for  that  guid 
ance  and  support  which  may  enable  us  to  steer  with  safety  the 
vessel  in  which  we  are  all  embarked,  amidst  the  conflicting 
elements  of  a  troubled  world. 

"During  the  contest  of  opinion  through  which  we  have 
passed,  the  animation  of  discussions  and  of  exertions  has  some 
times  worn  an  aspect  which  might  impose  on  strangers  unused 
to  think  freely,  and  to  speak  and  to  write  what  they  think;  but 
this  being  now  decided  by  the  voice  of  the  nation,  announced 
according  to  the  rules  of  the  Constitution,  all  will  of  course 
arrange  themselves  under  the  will  of  the  law,  and  unite  in 
common  efforts  for  the  common  good.  All  too  will  bear  in 
mind  this  sacred  principle,  that  though  the  will  of  the  majority 
is  in  all  cases  to  prevail,  that  will,  to  be  rightful,  must  be  reason 
able;  that  the  minority  possess  their  equal  rights,  which  equal 
laws  must  protect,  and  to  violate  which  would  be  oppression^. 
Let  us,  then,  fellow-citizens,  unite  with  one  heart  and  one 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  247 

mind,  let  us  restore  to  social  intercourse  that  harmony  and 
affection  without  which  liberty,  and  even  life  itself,  are  but 
dreary  things.  And  let  us  reflect,  that  having  banished  from 
our  land  that  religious  intolerance  under  which  mankind  so 
long  bled  and  suffered,  we  have  yet  gained  little,  if  we  counte 
nance  a  political  intolerance,  as  despotic  as  wicked,  and  capable 
of  as  bitter  and  bloody  persecutions.  During  the  throes  and 
convulsions  of  the  ancient  \vorld,  during  the  agonizing  spasms 
of  infuriated  man,  seeking  through  blood  and  slaughter  his 
long-lost  liberty,  it  was  not  wonderful  that  the  agitation  of  the 
billowrs  should  reach  even  this  distant  and  peaceful  shore;  that 
this  should  be  felt  and  feared  by  some,  and  less  by  others;  and 
should  divide  opinions  as  to  measures  of  safety;  but  every 
difference  of  opinion  is  not  a  difference  of  principle.  We  have 
called  by  different  names  brethren  of  the  same  principle.  We 
are  all  Republicans;  we  are  all  Federalists.  If  there  be  any 
among  us  who  would  wish  to  dissolve  this  Union,  or  to  change 
its  Republican  form,  let  them  stand  undisturbed  as  monuments 
of  the  safety  with  which  error  of  opinion  may  be  tolerated, 
where  reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it.  I  know,  indeed,  that 
some  honest  men  fear  that  a  Republican  government  cannot 
be  strong;  that  this  government  is  not  strong  enough.  But 
would  the  honest  patriot,  in  the  full  tide  of  successful  experi 
ment,  abandon  a  government  which  has  so  far  kept  us  free  and 
firm,  on  the  theoretic  and  visionary  fear,  that  this  government, 
the  world's  best  hope,  may,  by  possibility,  want  energy  to  pre 
serve  itself?  I  trust  not.  I  believe  this,  on  the  contrary,  the 
strongest  government  on  earth.  I  believe  it  the  only  one,  where 
every  man,  at  the  call  of  the  law,  would  fly  to  the  standard  of 
the  law,  and  would  meet  the  invasions  of  the  public  order  as  his 
own  personal  concern.  Sometimes  it  is  said,  that  man  cannot 
be  trusted  with  the  government  of  himself.  Can  he  then  be 
trusted  with  the  government  of  others?  Or,  have  we  found 
angels  in  the  form  of  kings,  to  govern  him?  Let  history  answer 
this  question. 

"Let  us,  then,  with  courage  and  confidence,  pursue  our  own 
Federal  and  Republican  principles;    cur  attachment  to  union 


248  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

and  representative  government.  Kindly  separated  by  nature 
and  a  wide  ocean  from  the  exterminating  havoc  of  one-quarter 
of  the  globe;  too  high-minded  to  endure  the  degradations  of  the 
others;  possessing  a  chosen  country,  with  room  enough  for 
our  descendants  to  the  thousandth  and  thousandth  generation; 
entertaining  a  due  sense  of  our  equal  right  to  the  use  of  our 
owrn  faculties,  to  the  acquisition  of  our  own  industry,  to  honor 
and  confidence  from  our  fellow-citizens,  resulting  not  from 
birth,  but  from  our  actions  and  our  sense  of  them;  enlightened 
by  a  benign  religion,  professed  indeed  and  practiced  in  various 
forms,  yet  all  of  them  inculcating  honesty,  truth,  temperance, 
gratitude,  and  the  love  of  man;  acknowledging  and  adoring  an 
overruling  Providence,  which,  by  all  its  dispensations,  proves 
that  it  delights  in  the  happiness  of  man  here,  and  his  greater 
happiness  hereafter;  with  all  these  blessings,  what  more  is 
necessary  to  make  us  a  happy  and  prosperous  nation?  Still  one 
thing  more,  fellow-citizens,  a  wise  and  frugal  government  which 
shall  restrain  men  from  injuring  one  another,  shall  leave  them 
free  to  regulate  their  own  pursuit  of  industry  and  improvement, 
and  shall  not  take  from  the,  mouth  the  bread  it  has  earned. 
This  is  the  sum  of  good  government;  and  this  is  necessary  to 
close  the  circle  of  our  felicities. 

"About  to  enter,  fellow-citizens,  on  the  exercise  of  duties 
which  comprehend  everything  dear  and  valuable  to  you,  it  is 
proper  you  should  understand  what  I  deem  the  essential  prin 
ciples  of  our  government,  and  consequently,  those  which  ought 
to  shape  its  administration.  I  will  compress  them  within  the 
narrowest  compass  they  will  bear,  stating  the  general  principle, 
but  not  all  its  limitations.  Equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  men,* 
of  whatever  state  or  persuasion,  religious  or  political;  peace, 
commerce,  and  honest  friendship  with  all  nations,  entangling* 
alliances  with  none;  the  support  of  the  State  governments  in 
all  their  rights,  as  the  most  competent  administrations  for  our 
domestic  concerns,  and  the  surest  bulwarks  against  anti-Repub 
lican  tendencies;  the  preservation  of  the  general  government  in 
its  whole  constitutional  vigor,  as  the  sheet-anchor  of  our  peace 
at  home,  and  safety  abroad;  a  jealous  care  of  the  right  of 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  249 

election  by  the  people,  a  mild  and  safe  corrective  of  abuses  which 
are  lopped  by  the  sword  of  revolution  where  peaceable  remedies 
are  unprovided;  absolute  acquiescence  in  the  decisions  of  the" 
majority,  the  vital  principle  of  the  republics,  from  which  there 
is  no  appeal  but  to  force,  the  vital  principle  and  immediate 
parent  of  despotism;  a  well-disciplined  militia,  our  best  reliance^ 
in  peace,  and  for  the  first  moments  of  war,  till  regulars  may 
relieve  them;  the  supremacy  of  the  civil  over  the  military 
authority;  economy  in  the  public  expense,  that  labor  might 
be  lightly  burdened;  the  honest  payment  of  our  debts  and 
sacred  preservation  of  the  public  faith ;  encouragement  of  agri 
culture,  and  of  commerce  as  its  handmaid;  the  diffusion  of 
information,  and  arraignment  of  all  abuses  at  the  bar  of  public 
reason;  freedom  of  religion;  freedom  of  the  press;  and  freedom 
of  person,  under  the  protection  of  the  habeas  corpus;  and  trial 
by  juries  impartially  selected.  These  principles  form  the  bright  - 
constellation  which  has  gone  before  us,  and  guided  our  steps 
through  an  age  of  revolution  and  reformation.  The  wisdom  of 
our  sages,  and  blood  of  our  heroes,  have  been  devoted  to  their 
attainment;  they  should  be  the  creed  of  our  political  faith,  the 
text  of  civic  instruction,  the  touchstone  by  which  to  try  the 
services  of  those  we  trust;  and  should  we  wander  from  them  in 
moments  of  error  or  of  alarm,  let  us  hasten  to  retrace  our  steps, 
and  to  regain  the  road  which  alone  leads  to  peace,  liberty,  and 
safety. 

"I  repair,  then,  fellow-citizens,  to  the  post  you  have  assigned 
me.  With  experience  enough  in  subordinate  offices  to  have 
seen  the  difficulties  of  this,  the  greatest  of  all,  I  have  learned 
to  expect  that  it  will  rarely  fall  to  the  lot  of  imperfect  man,  to 
retire  from  this  station  with  the  reputation  and  the  favor  which 
bring  him  to  it.  Without  pretensions  to  that  high  confidence 
you  reposed  in  our  first  and  greatest  revolutionary  character, 
whose  pre-eminent  services  had  entitled  him  to  the  first  place 
in  his  country's  love,  and  destined  for  him  the  fairest  page  in  the 
volume  of  faithful  history,  I  ask  so  much  confidence  only  as  may 
give  firmness  and  effect  to  the  legal  administration  of  your 
affairs.  I  shall  often  go  wrong  through  defect  of  judgment. 


250  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

When  right,  I  shall  often  be  thought  wrong  by  those  whose 
positions  will  not  command  a  view  of  the  whole  ground.  I  ask 
your  indulgence  for  my  own  errors,  which  will  never  be  inten 
tional;  and  your  support  against  the  errors  of  others,  who  may 
condemn  what  they  would  not,  if  seen  in  all  its  parts.  The 
approbation  implied  by  your  suffrage,  is  a  great  consolation  to 
me  for  the  past;  and  my  future  solicitude  will  be,  to  retain  the 
good  opinion  of  those  who  have  bestowed  it  in  advance,  to  con 
ciliate  that  of  others,  by  doing  them  all  the  good  in  my  power, 
and  to  be  instrumental  to  the  happiness  and  freedom  of  all. 

"Relying,  then,  on  the  patronage  of  your  good-will,  I  advance 
with  obedience  to  the  work,  ready  to  retire  from  it  whenever 
you  become  sensible  how  much  better  choice  it  is  in  your  power 
to  make.  And  may  that  Infinite  Power  which  rules  the  des 
tinies  of  the  universe,  lead  our  councils  to  what  is  best,  and  give 
them  a  favorable  issue  for  your  peace  and  prosperity." 

INAUGURAL    ADDRESS    (SECOND). 

On  taking  this  station  on  a  former  occasion  I  declared  the 
principles  on  which  I  believed  it  my  duty  to  administer  the 
affairs  of  our  Commonwealth.  My  conscience  tells  me  that  I 
have,  on  every  occasion,  acted  up  to  that  declaration,  according 
to  its  obvious  import  and  to  the  understanding  of  every  candid 
mind. 

In  the  transaction  of  your  foreign  affairs  we  have  endeavored 
to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  all  nations,  and  especially  of  those 
with  which  we  have  the  most  important  relations.  We  have 
done  them  justice  on  all  occasions,  favored  where  favor  was 
lawful  and  cherished  mutual  interests  and  intercourse  on  fair 
and  equal  terms.  We  are  firmly  convinced,  and  we  act  on  that 
conviction,  that  with  nations,  as  with  individuals,  our  interests 
soundly  calculated  will  ever  be  found  inseparable  from  our  moral 
duties;  and  history  bears  witness  to  the  fact  that  a  just  nation 
is  trusted  on  its  word  when  recourse  is  had  to  armaments  and 
wars  to  bridle  others. 

At  home,  fellow-citizens,  you  best  know  where  we  have  done 
well  or  ill.  The  suppression  of  unnecessary  offices,  of  useless 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  251 

establishments  and  expenses,  enabled  us  to  discontinue  our  in 
ternal  taxes.  These,  covering  our  land  with  offices  and  opening* 
our  doors  to  their  intrusions,  had  already  begun  that  process 
of  domiciliary  vexation  which,  once  entered,  is  scarcely  to  be 
restrained  from  reaching  successively  every  article  of  produce 
and  property.  If  among  these  taxes  some  minor  ones  fell,  which 
had  not  been  inconvenient,  it  was  because  their  amount  would 
not  have  paid  the  officers  who  collected  them,  and  because,  if 
they  had  any  merit,  the  State  authorities  might  adopt  them 
instead  of  others  less  approved. 

This  remaining  revenue  on  the  consumption  of  foreign  articles 
is  paid  cheerfully  by  those  who  can  afford  to  add  foreign  lux 
uries  to  domestic  comforts,  being  collected  on  our  seaboard  and 
frontiers  only  and  incorporated  with  the  transactions  of  our 
mercantile  citizens,  it  may  be  the  pleasure  and  the  pride  of  an 
American  to  ask:  What  farmer,  what  mechanic,  what  laborer 
ever  sees  a  tax-gatherer  of  the  United  States?  These  contribu 
tions  enable  us  to  support  the  current  expenses  of  the  govern 
ment;  to  fulfil  contracts  with  foreign  nations;  to  extinguish 
the  native  right  of  soil  within  our  limits;  to  extend  those  limits; 
and  to  apply  such  a  surplus  to  our  public  debt  a,s  places,  at  a 
short  day,  their  final  redemption;  and  that  redemption  once 
effected,  the  revenue  thereby  liberated  may,  by  a  just  repartition 
of  it  among  the  States  and  a  corresponding  amendment  of  the 
Constitution,  be  applied  in  time  of  peace  to  rivers,  canals,  roads, 
arts,  manufactures,  education  and  other  great  objects  within 
each  State.  In  time  of  war,  if  injustice  by  ourselves  or  others 
must  sometimes  produce  war,  increased  as  the  same  revenue 
will  be  by  increased  population  and  consumption  and  aided  by 
other  resources  reserved  for  that  crisis,  it  may  meet  within  the 
year  all  the  expenses  of  the  year,  without  encroaching  on  the 
rights  of  future  generations  by  burdening  them  with  the  debts 
of  the  past.  War  will,  then,  be  but  a  suspension  of  useful 
works;  and  a  return  to  a  state  of  peace,  a  return  to  the  progress 
of  improvement. 

I  have  said,  fellow-citizens,  that  the  income  reserved  had 
enabled  us  to  extend  our  limits;   but  that  extension  may  pos- 


252  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

sibly  pay  for  itself  before  we  are  called  on;  and,  in  the  meantime, 
may  keep  down  the  accruing  interest;  in  all  events,  it  will 
replace  the  advances  we  shall  have  made.  I  know  that  the 
acquisition  of  Louisiana  has  been  disapproved  by  some,  from  a 
candid  apprehension  that  the  enlargement  of  our  territory 
would  endanger  its  union.  But  who  can  limit  the  event  to 
which  the  federative  principle  may  operate  effectively?  The 
larger  our  association,  the  less  will  it  be  shaken  by  local  pas 
sions;  and,  in  any  view,  is  it  not  better  that  the  opposite  bank 
of  the  Mississippi  should  be  settled  by  our  own  brethren  and 
children,  than  by  strangers  of  another  family?  With  which 
should  we  be  most  likely  to  live  in  harmony  and  friendly  inter 
course? 

In  matters  of  religion,  I  have  considered  that  its  free  exer 
cise  is  placed  by  the  Constitution  independent  of  the  powers  of 
the  general  government.  I  have  therefore  undertaken,  on  no 
occasion,  to  prescribe  the  religious  exercises  suited  to  it;  but 
have  left  them,  as  the  Constitution  found  them,  under  the  direc 
tion  and  discipline  of  the  Church  or  State  authorities  acknowl 
edged  by  the  several  religious  societies. 

The  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  these  countries  I  have  regarded 
with  the  commiseration  their  history  inspires.  Endowed  with 
the  faculties  and  the  rights  of  men,  breathing  an  ardent  love  of 
liberty  and  independence,  and  occupying  a  country  which  left 
them  no  desire  but  to  be  undisturbed,  the  stream  of  overflowing 
population  from  other  regions  directed  itself  on  these  shores. 
Without  power  to  divert,  or  habits  to  contend  against  it,  they 
have  been  overwhelmed  by  the  current,  or  driven  before  it. 
Now  reduced  within  limits  too  narrow  for  the  hunter  state, 
humanity  enjoins  us  to  teach  them  agriculture  and  the  domestic 
arts;  to  encourage  them  to  that  industry  which  alone  can 
enable  them  to  maintain  their  place  in  existence;  and  to  pre 
pare  them  in  time  for  that  state  of  society  which,  to  bodily 
comforts,  adds  the  improvement  of  the  mind  and  morals.  We 
have  therefore  liberally  furnished  them  with  the  implements  of 
husbandry  and  household  use;  we  have  placed  among  them 
instructors  in  the  arts  of  first  necessity;  and  they  are  covered 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  253 

with  the  aegis  of  the  law  against  aggressors  from  among  our 
selves. 

But  the  endeavor  to  enlighten  them  on  the  fate  which  awaits 
their  present  course  of  life,  to  induce  them  to  exercise  their 
reason,  follow  its  dictates  and  change  their  pursuits  with  the 
change  of  circumstances,  have  powerful  obstacles  to  encounter. 
They  are  combated  by  the  habits  of  their  bodies,  prejudices  of 
their  minds,  ignorance,  pride  and  influence  of  interested  and 
crafty  individuals  among  them,  who  feel  themselves  something 
in  the  present  order  of  things,  and  fear  to  become  nothing  in 
any  other.  These  persons  inculcate  a  sanctimonious  reverence 
for  the  customs  of  their  ancestors;  that  whatsoever  they  did 
must  be  done  through  all  time;  that  reason  is  a  false  guide, 
and  to  advance  under  its  counsel,  in  their  physical,  moral  or 
political  condition,  is  perilous  innovation;  that  their  duty  is  to 
remain  as  their  Creator  made  them,  ignorance  being  safety,  and 
knowledge  being  full  of  danger;  in  short,  my  friends,  among 
them  is  seen  the  action  and  counteraction  of  good  sense  and 
bigotry;  they  too  have  their  anti-philosophers,  who  find  an 
interest  in  keeping  things  in  their  present  state,  who  dread 
reformation,  and  exert  all  their  faculties  to  maintain  the  as 
cendency  of  habit  over  the  duty  of  improving  their  reason  and 
obeying  its  mandates. 

In  giving  these  o>utlines  I  do  not  mean,  fellow-citizens,  to 
arrogate  to  myself  the  merit  of  the  measures;  that  is  due,  in  the 
first  place,  to  the  reflecting  character  of  our  citizens  at  large, 
who,  by  the  weight  of  public  opinion,  influence  and  strengthen 
the  public  measures;  it  is  due  to  the  sound  discretion  with  which 
they  select  from  among  themselves  those  to  whom  they  confide 
the  legislative  duties;  it  is  due  to  the  zeal  and  wisdom  of  the 
characters  thus  selected,  who  lay  the  foundations  of  public  hap 
piness  in  wholesome  laws,  the  execution  of  which  alone  remains 
for  others;  and  it  is  due  to  the  able  and  faithful  auxiliaries, 
whose  patriotism  has  associated  with  me  in  the  executive 
functions. 

During  the  course  of  administration,  and  in  order  to  disturb' 
it,  the  artillery  of  the  press  has  been  levelled  against  us,  charged 


254  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

with  whatsoever  its  licentiousness  could  devise  or  dare.  These 
abuses  of  an  institution  so  important  to  freedom  and  science 
are  deeply  to  be  regretted,  inasmuch  as  they  tend  to  lessen  its 
usefulness  and  to  sap  its  safety;  they  might,  indeed,  have  been 
corrected  by  the  wholesome  punishments  reserved  and  provided 
by  the  laws  of  the  several  States  against  falsehood  and  defama 
tion;  but  public  duties  more  urgent  press  on  the  time  of  public 
servants,  and  the  offenders  have  therefore  been  left  to  find  their 
punishment  in  the  public  indignation. 

Nor  was  it  uninteresting  to  the  world,  that  an  experiment 
should  be  fairly  and  fully  made,  whether  freedom  of  discussion, 
unaided  by  power,  is  not  sufficient  for  the  propagation  and  pro 
tection  of  truth?  Whether  a  government,  conducting  itself  in 
the  true  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  with  zeal  and  purity,  and 
doing  no  act  which  it  would  be  unwilling  the  whole  world 
should  witness,  can  be  written  down  by  falsehood  and  defama 
tion?  The  experiment  has  been  tried.  You  have  witnessed  the 
scene.  Our  fellow-citizens  have  looked  on  cool  and  collected. 
They  saw  the  latest  source  from  which  these  outrages  pro 
ceeded.  They  gathered  around  their  public  functionaries;  and 
when  the  Constitution  called  them  to  the  decision  by  suffrage 
they  pronounced  their  verdict  honorable  to  those  who  served 
them,  and  consolatory  to  the  friend  of  man,  who  believes  that 
he  may  be  trusted  with  the  control  of  his  own  affairs. 

No  inference  is  here  intended  that  the  laws,  provided  by  the 
State  against  false  and  defamatory  publications,  should  not  be 
enforced;  he  who  has  time  renders  a  service  to  public  morals 
and  public  tranquillity  in  reforming  these  abuses  by  the  salutary 
coercions  of  the  law.  But  the  experiment  is  noted  to  prove 
that,  since  truth  and  reason  have  maintained  their  ground 
against  false  opinions,  in  league  with  false  facts,  the  press, 
confined  to  truth,  needs  no  other  legal  restraint.  The  public 
judgment  will  correct  false  reasonings  and  opinions,  on  a  full 
hearing  of  all  parties;  and  no  other  definite  line  can  be  drawn 
between  the  inestimable  liberty  of  the  press  and  its  demoraliz 
ing  licentiousness.  If  there  be  still  improprieties  which  this 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  255 

rule  would  not  restrain,  its  supplement  must  be  sought  in  the 
censorship  of  public  opinion. 

Contemplating  the  union  of  sentiment  now  manifested  so 
generally,  as  auguring  harmony  and  happiness  to  our  future 
course,  I  offer  to  our  country  sincere  congratulations.  With 
those,  too,  not  yet  rallied  to  the  same  point,  the  disposition  to 
do  so  is  gaining  strength.  Facts  are  piercing  through  the  veil 
drawn  over  them;  and  our  doubting  brethren  will  at  length  see 
that  the  mass  of  their  fellow-citizens,  with  whom  they  cannot  yet 
resolve  to  act,  as  to  principles  and  measures,  think  as  they 
think,  and  desire  what  they  desire;  that  our  wish,  as  well  as 
theirs,  is  that  the  public  efforts  may  be  directed  honestly  to  the 
public  good;  that  peace  be  cultivated;  civil  and  religious  lib 
erty  unassailed;  law  and  order  preserved;  equality  of  rights 
maintained;  and  that  state  of  property,  equal  or  unequal,  which 
results  to  every  man  from  his  own  industry,  or  that  of  his 
father's.  When  satisfied  of  these  views,  it  is  not  in  human 
nature  that  they  should  not  approve  and  support  them.  In  the 
meantime,  let  us  cherish  them  with  patient  affection;  let  us  do 
them  justice,  and  more  than  justice,  in  all  competitions  of 
interest;  and  we  need  not  doubt  that  truth,  reason,  and  their 
own  interests  will  at  length  prevail,  will  gather  them  into  the 
fold  of  their  country,  and  will  complete  that  entire  union  of 
opinion  which  gives  to  a  nation  the  blessing  of  harmony,  and 
the  benefit  of  all  its  strength. 

I  shall  now  enter  on  the  duties  to  which  my  fellow-citizens  v 
have  again  called  me,  and  shall  proceed  in  the  spirit  of  thosej, 
principles  which   they   have  approved.     I   fear  not   that   any 
motives  of  interest  may  lead  me  astray.     I  am  sensible  of  no 
passion  which  could  seduce  me,  knowingly,  from  the  path  of 
justice;    but  the  weaknesses  of  human  nature,  and  the  limits^ 
of  my  own  understanding,  will  produce  errors  of  judgment, 
sometimes  injurious  to  your  interests.     I  shall  need,  therefore, 
all  the  indulgence  which  I  have  hitherto  experienced  from  my 
constituents.     The  want   of  it  will   certainly  not  lessen  with> 
increasing  years.     I  shall  need,  too,  the  favor  of  that  Being"' 
in  whose  hands  we  are;   who  led  our  fathers,  as  Israel  of  old, 


256  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

from  their  native  land,  and  planted  them  in  a  country  flowing: 
with  all  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life;  who  has  covered 
our  infancy  writh  His  providence,  and  our  riper  years  with  His 
wisdom  and  power;  and  to  whose  goodness  I  ask  you  to  join 
in  supplications  with  me,  that  He  will  so  enlighten  the  minds 
of  your  servants,  guide  their  councils,  and  prosper  their  meas 
ures,  that  whatsoever  they  do  shall  result  in  your  good,  and 
shall  secure  to  you  the  peace,  friendship,  and  approbation  of 
all  nations.  (Annals  of  Congress,  Second  Session,  Eighth 

^Congress,  p.  77.) 

^**- INDEPENDENCE. — Not  only  the  principles  of  common-sense, 
but  the  feelings  of  human  nature,  must  be  surrendered  up  before 
his  Majesty's  subjects  here  can  be  persuaded  to  believe  that  they 
hold  their  political  existence  at  the  will  of  a  British  Parliament. 
Shall  these  governments  be  dissolved,  their  property  annihi 
lated,  and  their  people  reduced  to  a  state  of  nature  at  the  im 
perious  breath  of  a  body  of  men  whom  they  never  saw,  in  whom 
they  never  confided,  and  over  whom  they  have  no  power  of 
punishment  or  removal,  let  their  crimes  against  American  public 
be  ever  so  great?  Can  any  one  reason  be  assigned  why  160,000 
electors  in  the  Island  of  Great  Britain  should  give  law  to  four 
millions  in  the  States  of  America,  every  individual  of  whom 
is  equal  to  every  individual  of  them,  in  virtue,  in  understanding, 
and  in  bodily  strength?  (From  "Summary  View,"  1774.  F. 

i.,  436.) 

— -INDEPENDENCE. — But  we  do  not  point  out  to  his  majesty  the 
injustice  of  these  acts,  with  intent  to  rest  on  that  principle  the 
cause  of  their  nullity;  but  to  show  that  experience  confirms  the 
propriety  of  those  political  principles  which  exempt  us  from 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  British  Parliament.  The  true  ground  on 
which  we  declare  these  acts  void  is  that  the  British  Parliament 
has  no  right  to  exercise  its  authority  over  us.  (From  "A  Sum 
mary  View,"  1774.  F.  L,  434.) 

INDEPENDENCE. — The  British  Parliament  has  no  right  to  inter 
meddle  with  the  support  of  civil  government  in  the  colonies. 
For  us,  not  for  them,  has  government  been  instituted  here. 
*  *  *  \Ve  conceive  that  we  alone  are  the  judges  of  the 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  257 

conditions,  circumstances  and  situation  of  our  people  as  the 
Parliament  are  of  theirs.  (From  an  address  to  Governor  Dun- 
more  of  Virginia,  1775.  F.  L,  456.) 

INDEPENDENCE. — I  suppose  they,  the  Virginia  Convention, 
will  tell  us  what  to  say  on  the  subject  of  independence,  but  hope 
respect  will  be  expressed  to  the  right  of  opinion  in  other  colonies 
who  may  happen  to  differ  from  them.  When  at  home  I  took 
great  pains  to  inquire  into  the  sentiments  of  the  people  on  that 
head.  In  the  upper  counties  I  think  I  may  safely  say  nine  out  of 
ten  are  for  it.  (To  Thomas  Nelson,  1776.  F.  II. ,  3.) 

INDEPENDENCE. — This  Congress,  bound  by  the  voice  of  their 
constituents,  which  coincides  with  their  own  sentiments,  have 
no  power  to  enter  into  conference  or  to  receive  any  propositions 
upon  the  subject  of  peace  which  do  not  as  a  preliminary  ack 
nowledge  these  States  to  be  sovereign  and  independent;  and 
whenever  this  shall  have  been  authoritatively  admitted  on  the 
part  of  Great  Britain,  they  shall  at  all  times  and  with  that 
earnestness  which  the  love  of  peace  and  justice  inspires,  be 
ready  to  enter  into  conference  or  treaty  for  the  purpose  of 
stopping  the  effusion  of  so  much  kindred  blood.  (From  a  reso 
lution  offered  in  Congress,  1776.  F.  II.,  90.) 
^  INDEPENDENCE. — If  any  doubt  has  arisen  as  to  me,  my  country 
will  have  my  political  creed  in  the  form  of  a  Declaration,  &c., 
which  I  was  lately  directed  to  draw.  This  will  give  decisive 
proof  that  my  own  sentiment  concurred  with  the  vote  they 
instructed  me  to  give.  (To  William  Flemming,  July  i,  1776. 
F.  II.,  41.) 

INDEPENDENCE,  DECLARATION  OF. — (From  the  fac-simile  of 
Jefferson's  own  draft  now  in  the  State  Department.  The  parts  in 
italics  were  stricken  out  by  Congress.) 

A  Declaration  by  the  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  in  General  Congress  assembled.  * 

When,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it  becomes  necessary^ 
for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands  which  have  con*t 
nected  them  with  another,  and  to  assume  among  the  powers 
of  the  earth  the  separate  and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws  of 
nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  to  the 


258  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes  ^ 
which  impel  them  to  the  separation.  ^ 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident:  that  all  men  are<~ 
created  equal;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with 
inherent  and  inalienable  rights ;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness;  that  to  secure  these  rights,  govern 
ments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  frorrr 
the  consent  of  the  governed;  that  whenever  any  form  of  govern-* 
ment  becomes  destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  thel 
people  to  alter  or  to  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  govern 
ment,  laying  its  foundation  on  such  principles,  and  organizing 
its  powers  in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to 
effect  their  safety  and  happiness.    Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate,, 
that  governments  long  established  should  not  be  changed  for 
light  and  transient  causes;  and  accordingly  all  experience  hath 
shown  mankind  are  more  disposed  to>  suffer  while  evils  are\ 
sufferable,  than  to  right  themselves  by  abolishing  the  forms  to^ 
which  they  are  accustomed.     But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses" 
and  usurpations  begun  at  a  distinguished  period  and  pursuing 
invariably  the  same  object,  evinces  a  design  to  reduce  them 
under  absolute  despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is  their  duty  to 
throw  off  such  government,  and  to  provide  new  guards  for 
their  future  security.     Such  has  been  the  patient  sufferance  of  - 
these  Colonies;  and  such  is  now  the  necessity  which  constrains 
them   to  expunge   their   former   system   of  government.      The 
history  of  the  present  King  of  Great  Britain  is  a  history  of 
unremitting   injuries   and    usurpations,    among   which   appears 
no  solitary  fact  to  contradict  the  uniform  tenor  of  the  rest,  but 
all  have  in  direct  object  the  establishment  of  an  absolute  tyranny 
over  these  States.     To  prove  this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a 
candid  world,  for  the  truth  of  which  we  pledge  a  faith  .yet  un 
sullied  by  falsehood. 

He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws  the  most  wholesome  and 
necessary  for  the  public  good. 

He  has  forbidden  his  governors  to  pass  laws  of  immediate 
and  pressing  importance,  unless  suspended  in  their  operation 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  259 

till  his  assent  should  be  obtained;  and,  when  so  suspended,  he 
has  utterly  neglected  to  attend  to  them. 

He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the  accommodation  of 
large  districts  of  people,  unless  those  people  would  relinquish 
the  right  of  representation  in  the  Legislature,  a  right  inestimable 
to  them,  and  formidable  to  tyrants  only. 

He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places  unusual, 
uncomfortable,  and  distant  from  the  depository  of  their  public 
records,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing  them  into  compliance 
with  his  measures. 

He  has  dissolved  representative  houses  repeatedly  and  con 
tinually  for  opposing  with  manly  firmness  his  invasions  on  the 
rights  of  the  people. 

He  has  refused  for  a  long  time  after  such  dissolutions  to 
cause  others  to  be  elected,  whereby  the  legislative  powers, 
incapable  of  annihilation,  have  returned  to  the  people  at  large 
for  their  exercise,  the  State  remaining,  in  the  meantime,  exposed 
to  all  the  dangers  of  invasion  from  without  and  convulsions 
within. 

He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  population  of  these  States; 
for  that  purpose  obstructing  the  laws  for  naturalization  of  for 
eigners,  refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage  their  migrations 
hither,  and  raising  the  conditions  of  new  appropriations  of 
lands. 

He  has  suffered  the  administration  of  justice  totally  to  cease 
in  some  of  these  States,  refusing  his  assent  to  laws  for  establish 
ing  judiciary  powers. 

He  has  made  our  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone  for  the 
tenure  of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment  of  their 
salaries. 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices,  by  a  self-assumed 
power  and  sent  hither  swarms  of  new  officers  to  harass  our 
people  and  eat  out  their  substance. 

He  has  kept  among  us  in  times  of  peace  standing  armies, 
and  ships  of  war  without  the  consent  of  our  Legislatures. 

He  has  effected  to  render  the  military  independent  of,  and 
superior  to,  the  civil  power. 


260  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us  to  a  jurisdiction 
foreign  to  our  constitutions  and  acknowledged  by  our  laws, 
giving  his  assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended  legislation  for 
quartering  large  bodies  of  troops  among  us;  for  protecting 
them  by  a  mock  trial  from  punishment  for  any  murders  which 
they  should  commit  on  the  inhabitants  of  these  States;  for 
cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world;  for  imposing 
taxes  on  us  without  our  consent;  for  depriving  us  of  the  benefits 
of  trial  by  jury;  for  transporting  us  beyond  seas  to  be  tried 
for  pretended  offenses;  for  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English 
laws  in  a  neighboring  province,  establishing  therein  an  arbitrary 
government,  and  enlarging  its  boundaries,  so  as  to  render  it 
at  once  an  example  and  fit  instrument  for  introducing  the 
same  absolute  rule  into  these  States;  for  taking  away  our  char 
ters,  abolishing  our  most  valuable  laws,  and  altering  fundament 
ally  the  forms  of  our  governments;  for  suspending  our  own 
Legislatures,  and  declaring  themselves  invested  with  power  to 
legislate  for  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 

He  has  abdicated  government  here,  withdrawing  his  gov 
ernors,  and  declaring  us  out  of  his  allegiance  and  protection. 

He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts,  burnt  our 
towns,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of  our  people. 

He  is  at  this  time  transporting  large  armies  of  foreign  mer 
cenaries  to  complete  the  work  of  death,  desolation,  and  tyranny 
already  begun  with  circumstances  of  cruelty  and  perfidy  un 
worthy  the  head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

He  has  constrained  our  fellow-citizens  taken  captive  on  the 
high  seas  to  bear  arms  against  their  country,  to  become  the 
executioners  of  their  friends  and  brethren,  or  to  fall  themselves 
by  their  hands. 

He  has  endeavored  to  bring  on  the  inhabitants  of  our  frontier 
the  merciless  Indian  savages,  whose  known  rule  of  warfare 
is  an  undistinguished  destruction  of  all  ages,  sexes  and  condi 
tions  of  existence. 

He  has  incited  treasonable  insurrections  of  our  fellozv-citizens 
zvith  the  allurements  of  forfeiture  and  confiscation  of  property. 

He  has  ivaged  cruel  zvar  against  human  nature  itself,  violating 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  261 

its  most  sacred  rights  of  life  and  liberty  in  the  persons  of  a 
distant  people  who  never  offended  him,  captivating  and  carrying 
them  into  slavery  in  another  hemisphere,  or  to  incur  miserable 
death  in  their  transportation  hither.  This  piratical  warfare,  the~~ 
opprobrium  of  infidel  powers,  is  the  warfare  of  the  CHRISTIAN 
King  of  Great  Britain.  Determined  to  keep  open  a  market 
where  men  should  be  bought  and  sold,  he  has  prostituted  his 
negative  for  suppressing  every  legislative  attempt  to  prohibit  - 
or  to  restrain  this  execrable  commerce.  And  that  this  assem 
blage  of  horrors  might  want  no  fact  of  distinguished  die,  he 
is  now  exciting  those  very  people  to  rise  in  arms  among  us,  and 
to  purchase  liberty  of  which  he  has  deprived  them,  by  murdering 
the  people  on  whom  he  also  obtruded  them;  thus  paying  off 
former  crimes  committed  against  the  liberties  of  one  people  with 
crimes  which  he  urges  them  to  commit  against  the  lives  of 
another. 

In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions  we  have  petitioned  for 
redress  in  the  most  humble  terms;  our  repeated  petitions  have 
been  answered  only  by  repeated  injuries. 

A  Prince  whose  character  is  thus  marked  by  every  act  which 
may  define  a  tyrant  is  unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  people  who 
mean  to  be  free.  Future  ages  will  scarcely  believe  that  the 
hardiness  of  one  man  adventured,  within  the  short  compass  of 
twelve  years  only,  to  lay  a  foundation  so  broad  and  so  undis 
guised  for  tyranny  over  a  people  fostered  and  fixed  in  principles 
of  freedom. 

Nor  have  wre  been  wanting  in  attention  to  our  British 
brethren.  We  have  warned  them  from  time  to  time  of  attempts"" 
by  their  legislature  to  extend  a  jurisdiction  over  these  our 
States.  We  have  reminded  them  of  the  circumstances  of  our_ 
emigration  and  settlement  here,  no  one  of  which  could  warrant 
so  strange  a  pretension;  that  these  zvere  effected  at  the  expense 
of  our  own  blood  and  treasure,  unassisted  by  the  wealth  or 
the  strength  of  Great  Britain;  that  in  constituting  indeed  our 
several  forms  of  government,  we  had  adopted  one  common 
king,  thereby  laying  a  foundation  for  perpetual  league  and 
amity  with  them;  but  that  submission  to  their  parliament  was 


262  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

no  part  of  our  Constitution,  nor  ever  in  idea,  if  history  may 
be  credited;  and  we  appealed  to  their  native  justice  and  mag 
nanimity  as  well  as  to  the  ties  of  our  common  kindred  to 
disavow  these  usurpations  which  were  likely  to  interrupt  our 
connection  and  correspondence.  They,  too,  have  been  deaf  to 
the  voice  of  justice  and  of  consanguinity,  and  when  occasions 
have  been  given  them,  by  the  regular  course  of  their  laws,  of 
removing  from  their  councils  the  disturbers  of  our  harmony, 
they  have,  by  their  free  election,  re-established  them  in  power. 
At  this  very  time,  too,  they  are  permitting  their  chief  magistrate 
to  send  over  not  only  soldiers  of  our  common  blood,  but 
Scotch  and  foreign  mercenaries  to  invade  and  destroy  us.  These 
facts  have  given  the  last  stab  to  agonizing  affection,  and  manly 
spirit  bids  us  to  renounce  forever  these  unfeeling  brethren.  We 
must  endeavor  to  forget  our  former  love  for  them  and  hold 
them  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind,  enemies  in  war,  in  peace 
friends.  We  might  have  been  a  free  and  a  great  people  to 
gether;  but  a  communication  of  grandeur  and  of  freedom,  it 
seems,  is  below  their  dignity.  Be  it  so,  since  they  will  have  it. 
The  road  to  happiness  and  to  glory  is  open  to  us  too.  We  will 
tread  it  apart  from  them,  and  acquiesce  in  the  necessity  which 
denounces  our  eternal  separation. 

We,  therefore,  the  representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  in  General  Congress  assembled,  do  in  the  name,  and 
by  the  authority  of  the  good  people  of  these  States,  reject  and 
renounce  all  allegiance  and  subjection  to  the  Kings  of  Great 
Britain  and  all  others  who  may  hereafter  claim  by,  through,  or 
under  them;  we  utterly  dissolve  all  political  connection  which 
may  heretofore  have  subsisted  between  us  and  the  people  or 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain;  and,  finally,  we  do  assert  and  de 
clare  these  Colonies  to  be  free  and  independent  States,  and  that 
as  free  and  independent  States,  they  have  full  power  to  levy  war, 
conclude  peace,  contract  alliances,  establish  commerce,  and  to 
do  all  other  acts  and  things  which  independent  States  may  of 
right  do. 

And  for  the  support  of  this  declaration,  we  mutually  pledge 
to  each  other  our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  263 

-*•  INDEPENDENCE. — Independence  and  the  establishment  of  a 
new  form  of  government,  were  not  even  in  1776  the  objects  of 
the  people  at  large.  The  idea  had  not  been  opened  to  the 
mass  of  the  people  in  April,  much  less  can  it  be  said  that  they 
had  made  up  their  minds  in  its  favor.  (From  "Notes  on  Vir 
ginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  226.) 

INDIANS. — No  lands  shall  be  appropriated  until  purchased  of 
the  Indian  native  proprietors;  nor  shall  any  purchases  be  made 
of  them  but  on  behalf  of  the  public,  by  authority  of  acts  of 
the  General  Assembly  to  be  passed  for  every  purchase  specially. 
(From  a  proposed  Constitution  for  Virginia.  1776.  F.  II.,  25.) 

INDIANS. — I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  Government  should 
firmly  maintain  this  ground;  that  the  Indians  have  a  right  to 
the  occupation  of  their  lands  independent  of  the  States  within 
whose  chartered  lands  they  happen  to  be;  that  the  Government 
is  determined  to  exert  all  its  energy  for  the  patronage  and 
protection  of  the  rights  of  the  Indians,  and  the  preservation 
of  peace  between  the  United  States  and  them,  and  that  any 
settlements  are  made  on  lands  not  ceded  by  them,  without  the 
previous  consent  of  the  United  States,  the  Government  will 
think  itself  bound,  not  only  to  declare  to  the  Indians  that  such 
settlements  are  without  the  authority  or  protection  of  the  United 
States,  but  to  remove  them  also  by  public  force.  (From  an 
opinion  submitted  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  1791.  F.  V.,  370.) 

INDIANS. — I  hope  we  shall  drub  the  Indians  well  this  summer 
and  then  change  our  plan  from  war  to  bribery.  We  must  do 
as  the  Spaniards  and  English  do,  keep  them  in  peace  by  liberal 
and  constant  presents.  They  find  it  the  cheapest  plan  and  so 
shall  we.  This  expense  of  this  summer's  expedition  would  have 
served  as  presents  for  half  a  century.  In  this  way  hostilities 
being  suspended  for  some  length  of  time,  a  real  affection  may 
succeed  on  our  frontiers  to  that  hatred  now  existing  there. 
(To  James  Monroe,  1791.  F.  V.,  319.) 

INDIANS. — In  truth,  the  ultimate  point  of  rest  and  happiness 
for  them  is  to  let  our  settlements  and  theirs  meet  and  blend 
together,  to  intermix,  and  become  one  people.  Incorporating 
themselves  with  us  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  this  is 


264  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

what  the  natural  progress  of  things  will  of  course  bring  on, 
and  it  will  be  better  to  promote  than  retard  it.  Surely  it  will 
be  better  for  them  to  be  identified  with  us,  and  preserved  in 
the  occupation  of  their  lands,  than  be  exposed  to  the  many 
casualties  which  may  endanger  them  while  a  separate  people. 
(To  Benjamin  Hawkins.  1803.  F.  VIIL,  214.) 

INDIANS. — In  order  to  provide  an  extension  of  territory  which 
the  rapid  increase  of  our  number  will  call  for,  two  measures  are 
deemed  expedient.  First:  to  encourage  them  to  abandon  hunt 
ing,  to  apply  to  the  raising  of  stock,  to  agriculture  and  domestic 
manufacture,  and  thereby  prove  to  themselves  that  less  land 
and  labor  will  maintain  them  in  this,  better  than  in  their  former 
way  of  living.  The  extensive  forests  necessary  in  the  hunting 
life  will  then  become  useless,  and  they  will  see  advantage  in 
exchanging  them  for  the  means  of  improving  their  farms,  and 
of  increasing  their  domestic  comforts.  Secondly:  to  multiply 
trading  houses  among  them,  and  place  within  their  reach  those 
things  which  will  contribute  more  to  their  domestic  comfort 
than  the  possession  of  extensive  but  uncultivated  wilds.  Ex 
perience  and  reflection  will  develop  to  them  the  wisdom  of 
exchanging  what  they  can  spare  and  what  we  want,  for  what 
we  can  spare  and  they  want.  In  leading  them  to  manufactures, 
to  agriculture,  and  civilization;  in  bringing  together  their  and 
our  settlements,  and  in  preparing  them  ultimately  to  participate 
in  the  benefits  of  our  government,  I  trust  and  believe  we  are 
acting  for  their  greatest  good.  (From  a  Confidential  Message 
to  the  House  of  Representatives.  1803.  F.  VIIL,  196-200.) 

INDIANS. — My  friends  and  children,  I  have  now  an  important 
advice  to  give  you.  I  have  already  told  you  that  you  and  all 
the  red  men  are  my  children,  and  I  wish  you  to  live  in  peace 
and  friendship  with  one  another  as  brethren  of  the  same  family 
ought  to  do.  How  much  better  is  it  for  neighbors  to  help 
than  to  hurt  one  another;  how  much  happier  must  it  make 
them.  If  you  will  cease  to  make  war  on  one  another,  if  you 
will  live  in  friendship  with  all  mankind,  you  can  employ  all 
your  time  in  providing  food  and  clothing  for  yourselves  and 
your  families.  Your  men  will  not  be  destroyed  in  war,  and 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  265 

your  women  and  children  will  He  down  to  sleep  in  their  cabins 
without  fear  of  being  surprised  by  their  enemies  and  killed  or 
carried  away.  Your  numbers  will  increase  instead  of  diminish 
ing,  and  you  will  live  in  plenty  and  in  quiet.  My  children,  I 
have  given  this  advice  to*  all  your  red  brethren  on  this  side  of 
the  Mississippi;  they  are  following  it,  they  are  increasing  in 
their  numbers,  are  learning  to  clothe  and  provide  for  their 
families  as  we  do.  Remember  then  my  advice,  my  children; 
carry  it  home  to  your  people,  and  tell  them  that  from  the  day 
that  they  have  become  all  of  the  same  family,  from  the  day 
that  we  become  father  to  them  all,  we  wish,  as  a  true  father 
should  do,  that  we  may  all  live  together  as  one  household, 
and  that  before  they  strike  one  another,  they  should  go  to 
their  father  and  let  him  endeavor  to  make  up  the  quarrel. 
(Address  to  the  Mander  Nation.  1806.  C.  VIII.,  201.) 

INDIANS. — In  this  war  it  is  our  wish  the  Indians  should  be 
quiet  spectators,  not  wasting  their  blood  in  quarrels  which  do 
not  concern  them;  that  we  are  strong  enough  to  fight  our  own 
battles,  and  therefore  ask  no  help;  and  if  the  English  should 
ask  theirs,  it  should  convince  them  that  it  proceeds  from  a 
sense  of  their  own  weakness  which  would  not  augur  success 
in  the  end;  that  at  the  same  time,  as  we  have  learnt  that  some 
tribes  are  already  expressing  intentions  hostile  to  the  United 
States,  we  think  it  proper  to  apprise  them  of  the  ground  on 
which  they  now  stand;  for  which  purpose  we  make  to  them 
this  solemn  declaration  of  our  unalterable  determination,  that 
we  wish  them  to  live  in  peace  with  all  nations  as  well  as 
with  us,  and  we  have  no'  intention  ever  to  strike  them  or 
to  do  them  an  injury  of  any  sort,  unless  first  attacked  or 
threatened;  but  that  learning  that  some  of  them  meditate 
war  on  us,  we,  too,  are  preparing  for  war  against  those, 
and  those  only  who  shall  seek  it;  and  that  if  ever  we  are 
constrained  to  lift  the  hatchet  against  any  tribe,  we  will  never 
lay  it  down  until  that  tribe  is  exterminated  or  driven  beyond 
the  Mississippi.  Abjuring  them,  therefore,  if  they  wish  to  re 
main  on  the  land  which  covers  the  bones  of  their  fathers,  to 
keep  the  peace  with  a  people  who  ask  their  friendship  with- 


266  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

out  needing"  it,  who  wish  to  avoid  war  without  fearing  it. 
In  war,  they  will  kill  some  of  us;  we  shall  destroy  all  of  them. 
Let  them  then  continue  quiet  at  home,  take  care  of  their  women 
and  children,  and  remove  from  among  them  the  agents  of  any 
nation  persuading  them  to  war,  and  let  them  declare  to  us 
explicitly  and  categorically  that  they  will  do  this;  in  which 
case  they  will  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  preparations  we 
are  now  unwillingly  making  to  secure  our  own  safety.  (To  the 
Secretary  of  War.  1807.  C.  V.,  176.) 

INDUSTRY. — It  is  your  future  happiness  which  interests  me, 
and  nothing  can  contribute  more  to  it  (moral  rectitude  always 
excepted)  than  the  contracting  a  habit  of  industry  and  activity. 
Of  all  the  cankers  of  human  happiness  none  corrodes  with  so 
silent  yet  so  baleful  an  influence  as  indolence.  Body  and  mind 
both  unemployed,  our  being  becomes  a  burthen,  and  every 
object  about  us  loathsome,  even  the  dearest.  Idleness  begets 
ennui,  ennui  the  hypochondriac,  and  that  a  diseased  body. 
No  laborious  person  was  ever  yet  hysterical.  Exercise  and 
application  produce  order  in  our  affairs,  health  of  body  and 
cheerfulness  of  mind,  and  these  make  us  precious  to  our  friends. 
It  is  while  we  are  young  that  the  habit  of  industry  is  formed. 
If  not  then,  it  never  is  afterwards.  The  future  of  our  lives, 
therefore,  depends  on  employing  well  the  short  period  of  youth. 
If  at  any  moment,  my  dear,  you  catch  yourself  in  idleness, 
start  from  it  as  you  would  from  the  precipice  of  a  gulf.  (To 
Martha  Jefferson,  1787.  F.  IV.,  372.) 

INDUSTRY. — A  mind  always  employed  is  always  happy.  This 
is  the  true  secret,  the  grand  recipe  for  felicity.  The  idle  are 
only  the  wretched.  In  a  world  which  furnishes  so  many  em 
ployments  which  are  useful,  so  many  which  are  amusing,  it 
is  our  own  fault  if  we  ever  know  what  ennui  is,  or  if  we  are 
ever  driven  to  the  miserable  resources  of  gaming,  which  cor 
rupts  our  dispositions,  and  teaches  us  a  habit  of  hostility 
against  all  mankind.  (To  Martha  Jefferson,  1787.  F.  IV.,  389.) 

INHERITANCES. — Thomas  Jefferson  is  of  the  opinion  that  the 
incompetence  of  the  general  government  to  legislate  on  the 
subject  of  inheritances  is  a  reason  the  more  against  the  Presi- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  267 

dent's  becoming  the  channel  of  a  petition  to  them.     (From 
an  opinion  submitted  to  Washington,  1792.    F.  VI.,  133.) 

INSURRECTIONS. — The  case  of  opposition  to  the  embargo  laws 
on  the  Canada  line,  I  take  to  be  that  of  distinct  combinations 
of  a  number  of  individuals  to*  oppose  by  force  and  arms  the 
execution  of  those  laws,  for  which  purpose  they  go  armed, 
fire  upon  the  public  guards,  in  one  instance  at  least  have 
wounded  one  dangerously,  and  rescue  property  held  under  these 
laws.  This  may  not  be  an  insurrection  in  the  popular  sense  of 
the  word,  but  being  arrayed  in  war-like  manner,  actually  com 
mitting  acts  of  war,  and  persevering  systematically  in  defiance  of 
the  public  authority,  bring  it  so  fully  within  the  legal  definition 
of  an  insurrection,  that  I  should  not  hesitate  to  issue  a  proclama 
tion,  were  I  not  restrained  by  motives  of  which  your  Excellency 
seems  to  be  apprised.  *  *  *  I  think  it  so  important  in  example 
to  crush  the  audacious  proceedings,  and  to  make  the  offenders 
feel  the  consequences  of  individuals  daring  to>  oppose  a  law 
by  force,  that  no  effort  should  be  spared  to  compass  this  object. 
(To  Governor  Tompkins,  1808.  C.  V.,  343.) 

"INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS. — You  will  have  learned  that  an  act 
for  internal  improvement,  after  passing  both  Houses,  was  nega 
tived  by  the  President.  The  act  \vas  founded,  avowedly,  on 
the  principle  that  the  phrase  in  the  Constitution  which  author 
izes  Congress  "to  lay  taxes,  to  pay  debts  and  provide  for  the 
general  welfare,"  was  an  extension  of  the  powers  specifically 
enumerated  to  whatever  would  promote  the  general  welfare; 
and  this  you  know  was  the  federal  doctrine.  Whereas,  our 
tenet  ever  was,  and  indeed,  it  is  the  only  landmark  which  now 
divides  the  Federalists  from  the  Republicans,  that  Congress  had 
not  unlimited  powers  to  provide  for  the  general  welfare,  but 
were  restrained  to  those  specifically  enumerated;  and  that, 
as  it  was  never  meant  they  should  provide  for  the  welfare, 
but  by  the  exercise  of  the  enumerated  powers,  so  it  could  not 
have  been  meant  they  should  raise  money  for  purposes  which 
the  enumeration  did  not  place  under  their  action;  consequently, 
that  the  specification  of  powers  is  a  limitation  of  the  purposes 
for  which  they  may  raise  money.  I  think  the  passage  and 


268  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

rejection  of  this  bill  a  fortunate  incident.     (To  Albert  Gallatin, 
1817.    C.  VII.,  78.) 

^  INVENTIONS. — It  has  been  pretended  by  some  (and  in  England 
especially)  that  inventors  have  a  natural  and  exclusive  right 
to  their  inventions,  and  not  merely  for  their  own  lives,  but 
inheritable  to  their  heirs.  But  while  it  is  a  mooted  question 
whether  the  origin  of  any  kind  of  property  is  derived  from 
nature  at  all,  it  would  be  singular  to  admit  a  natural  and  even 
an  hereditary  right  to  inventors.  It  is  agreed  by  those  who*** 
have  seriously  considered  the  subject,  that  no  individual  has 
of  natural  right  a  separate  property  in  an  acre  of  land  for 
instance.  By  an  universal  law,  indeed,  whatever,  whether  fixea 
or  movable,  belongs  to  all  men  equally  and  in  common  is  the 
property  for  the  moment  of  him  who  occupies  it;  but  \vhen  he 
relinquishes  the  occupation  the  property  goes  with  it.  Stable 
ownership  is  the  gift  of  social  law,  and  is  given  late  in  the 
progress  of  society.  It  would  be  curious  then,  if  an  idea,  the_^ 
fugitive  fermentation  of  an  individual  brain,  could,  of  natural 
right,  be  claimed  in  exclusive  and  stable  property.  If  nature 
has  made  any  one  thing  less  susceptible  than  all  others  of 
exclusive  property,  it  is  the  action  of  the  thinking  power  called 
an  idea,  which  an  individual  may  exclusively  possess  as  long  as 
he  keeps  it  to  himself;  but  the  moment  it  is  divulged  it  forces 
itself  into  the  possession  of  every  one,  and  the  receiver  cannot 
dispossess  himself  of  it.  Its  peculiar  character,  too,  is  that^ 
no  one  possesses  the  less,  because  every  other  possesses  the 
whole  of  it.  He  who  receives  an  idea  from  me  receives  in 
struction  himself  without  lessening  mine,  receives  light  with 
out  darkening  me.  That  ideas  should  freely  spread  from  one,\ 
to  another  over  the  globe,  for  the  moral  and  mutual  instruction ; 
of  man  and  improvement  of  his  condition,  seems  to  have  beeny 
peculiarly  and  benevolently  designed  by  nature,  when  she  made 
them,  like  fire,  expansible  over  all  space,  without  lessening 
their  density  in  any  point,  and  like  the  air  in  which  we  breathe, 
move  and  have  our  physical  being,  incapable  of  confinement 
or  exclusive  appropriation.  Inventions,  then,  can  not,  in  nature, 
be  a  subject  of  property.  Society  may  give  an  exclusive  right 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  269 

to  the  profits  arising  therefrom,  as  an  encouragement  to  metx 
to  pursue  ideas  which  may  produce  utility,  but  this  may  or  may 
not  be  done,  according  to  the  will  and  convenience  of  the 
society,  without  claim  or  complaint  from  anybody.  Accord/^ 
ingly,  it  is  a  fact,  as  far  as  I  am  informed,  that  England  was, 
until  we  copied  her,  the  only  country  on  earth  which  ever,  by 
a  general  law,  gave  a  legal  right  to-  the  exclusive  use  of  an 
idea.  In  some  other  countries  it  is  sometimes  done,  in  a  great 
case,  and  by  a  special  and  personal  act,  but  generally  speaking, 
other  nations  have  thought  that  these  monopolies  produce  more 
embarrassment  than  advantage  to  society;  and  it  may  be  ob 
served  that  the  nations  which  refuse  monopolies  of  invention 
are  as  fruitful  as  England  in  new  and  useful  devices.  (To 
Isaac  McPherson,  1813.  C.  VI.,  180.) 

JACOBINS. — The  society  of  Jacobins,  in  another  country,  was 
instituted  on  principles  and  views  as  virtuous  as  ever  kindled 
the  hearts  of  patriots.  It  was  the  pure  patriotism  of  their 
purposes  which  extended  their  association  to  the  limits  of 
the  nation,  and  rendered  their  power  within  it  boundless;  and 
it  was  this  power  which  degenerated  their  principles  and  prac 
tices  to  such  enormities  as  never  before  could  have  been 
imagined.  (To  Jedidiah  Morse,  1822.  C.  VII. ,  235.) 

JAY'S  TREATY. — The  most  remarkable  political  occurrence  with 
us  has  been  the  treaty  with  England,  of  which  no  man  in  the 
United  States  has  had  the  affrontery  to  affirm  that  it  was  not 
a  very  bad  one  except  A.  Hamilton,  under  the  signature  of 
Camillus.  Its  most  zealous  defenders  only  pretended  that  it 
was  better  than  war,  as  if  war  was  not  invited  rather  than 
avoided  by  unfounded  demands.  I  have  never  known  the 
public  pulse  beat  so  full  and  in  such  universal  union  on  any 
subject  since  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  (To  James  Mon 
roe,  1795.  F.  VII.,  58.) 

JAY'S  TREATY. — Mr.  Jay's  treaty  has  at  length  been  made 
public.  So  general  a  burst  of  dissatisfaction  never  before  ap 
peared  against  any  transaction.  Those  who  understand  the 
particular  articles  of  it  condemn  those  articles.  Those  who  do 
not  understand  them  minutely  condemn  it  generally  as  wearing 


270  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

a  hostile  face  to  France.  *  *  *  It  has  in  my  opinion  com 
pletely  demolished  the  monarchical  party  here.  (To  James  Mon 
roe,  1795.  F.  VII,  27.) 

JESUS. — In  this  state  of  things  among  Jews,  Jesus  appeared. 
His  parentage  was  obscure;  his  condition  poor;  his  education 
null;  his  natural  endowments  great;  his  life  correct  and  innocent; 
he  was  meek,  benevolent,  patient,  firm,  disinterested  and  of 
the  sublimest  eloquence. 

The  disadvantages  under  which  his  doctrine  appeared  are 
remarkable. 

1.  Like  Socrates  and  Epictetus,  he  wrote  nothing  himself. 

2.  But  he  had  not,  like  them,  a  Xenophon  or  an  Arrian  to 
write  for  him.     On  the  contrary,  all  the  learned  of  his  country, 
entrenched  in  its  power  and  riches,  were  opposed  to  him,  lest 
his  labors  should  undermine  their  advantages;  and  the  com 
mitting  to  writing  his  life  and  doctrines  fell  on  the  most  unlet 
tered  and  ignorant  men,  who  wrote,  too,  from  memory,  and  not 
till  long  after  the  transaction  had  passed. 

3.  According  to  the  ordinary  fate  of  those  who  attempt  to 
enlighten  and  reform  mankind,  he  fell  an  early  victim  to  the 
jealousy    and    combination    of    the    altar    and    the    throne,    at 
about  33  years  of  age,  his  reason  having  not  yet  attained  the 
maximum  of  its  energy,  nor  the  course  of  his  preaching,  which 
was  but  of  three  years  at  most,  presented  occasions  for  develop 
ing  a  complete  set  of  morals. 

4.  Hence  the  doctrines  which  he  really  delivered  were  de 
fective  as  a  whole,  and  fragments  only  of  what  he  did  deliver 
have  come  to  us  mutilated,  misstated  and  often  unintelligible. 

5.  They  have  been  still  more  disfigured  by  the  corruptions  of 
schismatising  followers,  who  have  found  an  interest  in  sophisti 
cating-  and  perverting  the  simple  doctrines  he  taught  by  en 
grafting  on  them  the  mysticisms  of  a  Grecian  sophist,  frittering 
them  into  subtilities  and  obscuring  them  with  jargon,  until 
they  have  caused  good  men  to  reject  the  whole  in  disgust  and 
to  view  Jesus  himself  as  an  impostor. 

Notwithstanding  these  disadvantages,  a  system  of  morals  is 
presented  to  us,  which,  if  filled  up  in  the  true  style  and  spirit 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  271 

of  the  rich  fragments  he  left  us,  would  be  the  most  perfect 
and  sublime  that  has  ever  been  taught  by  man. 

The  question  of  his  being  a  member  of  the  Godhead,  or  in 
direct  communication  with  it,  claimed  for  him  by  some  of  his 
followers  and  denied  by  others,  is  foreign  to  the  present  view, 
which  is  merely  an  estimate  of  the  intrinsic  merit  of  his  doc 
trines. 

1.  He  corrected  the   deism   of  the  Jews,   confirming  them 
in  their  belief  of  one  only  God,  and  giving  them  juster  notions 
of  his  attributes  and  government. 

2.  His  moral  doctrines,  relating  to  kindred* and  friends,  were 
more  pure  and  perfect  than  those  of  the  most  correct  philos 
ophers,  and  greatly  more  so  than  those  of  the  Jews;  and  they 
went  far  beyond  both  in  inculcating  universal  philanthropy,  not 
only  to  kindred  and  friends,  to  neighbors  and  countrymen,  but 
to  all  mankind,  gathering  all  into  one  family,  under  the  bonds 
of  love,  charity,  peace,  common  wants  and  common  aids.     A 
development  of  this  head  will  evince  the  peculiar  superiority  of 
the  system  of  Jesus  over  all  others. 

3.  The  precepts  of  philosophy  and  of  the  Hebrew  code,  laid 
hold  of  actions  only.     He  pushed  his  scrutinies  into  the  heart 
of  man;  erected  his  tribunal  in  the  region  of  his  thoughts,  and 
purified  the  waters  at  the  fountain  head. 

4.  He  taught  emphatically  the  doctrines  of  a  future  state, 
which   was   either  doubted   or   disbelieved   by  the  Jews;   and 
wielded  it  with  efficacy  as  an  important  incentive,  supplemen 
tary  to  the  other  motives  to  moral  conduct.     (To  Benjamin 
Rush,  1803.    F.  VIII.,  227.) 

JESUS. — My  aim  was  to  justify  the  character  of  Jesus  ag?.inst 
the  fictions  of  his  pseudo-follov/ers,  which  have  exposed  him 
to  the  inference  of  being  an  impostor.  For  if  we  could  believe 
that  he  really  countenanced  the  follies,  the  falsehoods  and  the 
charlatanism  which  his  biographers  fasten  on  him,  and  admit 
the  misconstructions,  interpolations  and  theorizations  of  the 
fathers  of  the  early  and  fanatic  of  the  later  ages,  the  conclusion 
would  be  irresistible  by  every  sound  mind  that  he  was 
an  impostor.  I  give  no  credit  to  their  falsifications  of  his 


272  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

doctrines  and  his  actions,  and  to  rescue  his  character  the  postu 
late  in  my  letter  asked  only  what  is  granted  in  reading  every 
other  historian.  When  Livy  and  Siculus,  for  example,  tell  us 
things  which  coincide  with  our  experience  of  the  order  of 
nature,  we  credit  them  on  their  word,  and  place  their  narrations 
among  the  records  of  credible  history.  But  when  they  tell  us 
of  calves  speaking,  of  statues  sweating  blood,  and  other  things 
against  the  course  of  nature,  we  reject  these  as  fables  not  be 
longing  to  history.  In  like  manner  when  an  historian,  speaking 
of  a  character  well  known  and  established  on  satisfactory  testi 
mony,  imputes  to  it  things  incompatible  with  that  character,  we 
reject  them  without  hesitation,  and  assent  to  that  only  of 
which  we  have  better  evidence.  (To  William  Short,  1820. 
C.  VII.,  164.) 

JESUS. — See  Christianity,  Religion. 

JUDGES.— For  misbehavior  o"f  judges  the  grand  inquest  of  the 
Colony,  the  House  of  Representatives,  should  impeach  them 
before  the  Governor  and  Council,  when  they  should  have  time 
and  opportunity  to  make  their  defense;  but  if  convicted,  should 
be  removed  from  their  offices  and  subjected  to  such  other  pun 
ishment  as  shall  be  thought  proper.  (To  George  Wythe,  1776. 
F.  II,  60.) 

^  JUDICIARY. — The  dignity  and  stability  of  government  in  all  its 
branches,  the  morals  of  the  people,  and  every  blessing  of  society, 
depend  so  much  upon  an  upright  and  skilful  administration  of 
justice  that  the  judicial  power  ought  to  be  distinct  from  both 
the  legislature  and  executive,  and  independent  upon  both,  that 
so  it  may  be  a  check  upon  both,  as  both  should  be  a  check 
upon  that.  The  judges,  therefore,  should  be  men  of  learning 
and  experience  in  the  laws,  of  exemplary  morals,  great  patience, 
calmness  and  attention;  their  minds  should  not  be  distracted 
with  jarring  interests;  they  should  not  be  dependent  upon 
any  man  or  body  of  men.  To  these  ends  they  should  hold  estates 
for  life  in  their  offices,  or,  in  other  words,  their  commissions 
should  be  during  good  behavior,  and  their  salaries  ascertained 
and  established  by  law.  (To  George  Wythe,  1776.  F.  II.,  60.) 

tr-  JUDICIARY. — The  judiciary  of  the  United  States  is  the  subtle 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  273 

corps  of  sappers  and  miners  constantly  working  underground 
to  undermine  the  foundations  of  our  confederate  fabric.  They 
are  construing  our  Constitution  from  a  co-ordination  of  a 
general  and  special  government  to  a  general  and  supreme  one 
"alone.  This  will  lay  all  things  at  their  feet,  and  they  are  too 
well  versed  in  English  law  to  forget  the  maxim,  "boni  Judicis 
est  ampliare  jurisdictionem."  We  shall  see  if  they  are  bold 
enough  to  take  the  daring  stride  their  five  lawyers  have  lately 
taken.  If  they  do,  then,  with  the  editor  of  our  book,  in  his 
address  to  the  public,  I  will  say  that  "against  this  every  man 
should  raise  his  voice,"  and  more,  should  uplift  his  arm.  Who 
wrote  this  admirable  address?  Sound,  luminous,  strong,  not 
a  word  too  much,  nor  one  which  can  be  changed  but  for  the 
worse.  That  pen  should  go-  on,  lay  bare  these  words  of  our 
Constitution,  expose  the  decisions^yma/fra,  and  arouse,  as  it 
'is  able,  the  attention  of  the  nation  to  these  bold  speculators  on 
its  patience.  Having  found,  from  experience,  that  impeach 
ment  is  an  impracticable  thing,  a  mere  scarecrow,  they  consider 
themselves  secure  for  life;  they  sculk  from  responsibility  to  pub 
lic  opinion,  the  only  remaining  hold  on  them,  under  a  practice 
first  introduced  into  England  by  Lord  Mansfield.  An  opinion 
is  huddled  up  in  conclave,  perhaps  by  a  majority  of  one,  de 
livered  as  if  unanimous,  and  with  the  silent  acquiescence  of 
lazy  or  timid  associates,  and  with  a  crafty  chief  judge,  who 
sophisticated  the  law  to  his  mind,  by  the  turn  of  his  own  reason 
ing.  A  judiciary  law  was  once  reported  by  the  Attorney, 
General  to  Congress,  requiring  each  judge  to  deliver  his  opinion 
seriatim  and  openly,  and  then  give  it  in  writing  to  the  clerk 
to  be  entered  on  the  record.  A  judiciary  independent  of  a  king 
or  executive  alone  is  a  good  thing;  but  independence  of  the  will 
of  the  nation  is  a  solecism,  at  least  in  a  republican  government. 
(To  Thomas  Ritchie,  1820.  C.  VII.,  192.) 

"^^JUDICIARY,  FEDERAL. — I  well  knew  that  in  certain  federal  cases 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  had  given  to  a  foreign  party, 
whether  plaintive  or  defendant,  a  right  to  carry  his  cause  into 
the  federal  court;  but  I  did  not  know  that  where  he  had  himself 
elected  the  State  judicature,  he  could  after  an  unfavorable 


274  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

decision  there  remove  his  case  to  the  federal  court  and  thus 
take  the  benefit  of  two  chances  where  others  have  but  one; 
nor  that  the  right  of  entertaining-  the  question  in  this  case  had 
been  exercised  by  the  federal  judiciary  after  it  had  been  post 
poned  on  the  party's  first  election.  *  *  *  I  hope  our  courts  will* 
never  countenance  the  sweeping  pretensions  which  have  been 
set  up  under  the  words  "general  defence  and  public  welfare." 
The  words  only  express  the  motives  which  induced  the  Con 
stitution  to  give  the  ordinary  Legislature  certain  specified  pow 
ers  which  they  enumerated  which  they  thought  might  be  trusted 
to  the  ordinary  Legislature  and  not  to  give  them  the  unspecified 
also;  or  why  any  specification?  They  could  not  be  so  awkward 
in  language  as  to  mean,  as  we  say,  "all  and  some."  And 
should  this  construction  prevail,  all  limits  to  the  federal  gov 
ernment  are  done  away.  (To  Judge  Roane,  1815.  C.  VI., 

494-) 

-  JUDICIARY,  FEDERAL. — The  nation  (in  1800)  declared  its  will* 

by  dismissing  functionaries  of  one  principle  and  electing  those 
of  another  in  the  two  branches,  executive  and  legislative,  sub 
mitted  to  their  election.  Over  the  judiciary  department  the 
Constitution  had  deprived  them  of  their  control.  That,  there 
fore,  has  continued  the  reprobated  system,  and  although  new 
matter  has  occasionally  been  incorporated  into  the  old,  yet 
flie  leaven  of  the  old  mass  seems  to  assimilate  to  itself  the 
new,  and  after  twenty  years'  confirmation  of  the  federated 
system  by  the  voice  of  the  nation  declared  through  the  medium 
of  election  we  find  the  judiciary  on  every  occasion  still  drawing 
us  into  consolidation.  In  denying  the  right  they  usurp  of 
exclusively  explaining  the  Constitution  I  go  further  than  you 
do,  if  I  understand  rightly  your  quotation  from  the  Federalist 
of  an  opinion  that  "the  judiciary  is  the  last  resort  in  relation 
to  the  other  departments  of  the  government,  but  not  in  relation 
to  the  rights  of  the  parties  to  the  compact  under  which  the 
judiciary  is  derived."  If  this  opinion  be  sound  then  indeed  is . 
our  Constitution  a  complete  fclo  de  se.  For  intending  to* 
establish  three  departments,  co-ordinate  and  independent,  that 
they  might  check  and  balance  one  another,  it  has  given  accord-  t 


• 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  275 

ing  to  this  opinion,  to  one  of  them  alone  the  right  to  prescribe* 
rules  for  the  government  of  the  others,  and  to  that  one,  too, 
which  is  unelected  by  and  independent  of  the  nation.  For^ 
experience  has  already  shown  that  the  impeachment  it  has 
provided  is  not  even  a  scarecrow,  that  such  opinions  as  the 
one  you  combat  sent  cautiously  out,  as  you  observe  also  by 
detachment,  not  belonging  to  the  case  often,  but  sought  for 
out  of  it  as  if  to  rally  the  public  opinion  beforehand  to  their 
views  and  to  indicate  the  line  they  are  to  walk  in,  have  been 
so  quietly  passed  over  as  never  to  have  excited  animadversion 
even  in  a  speech  of  any  one  of  the  body  entrusted  with  impeach 
ment.  The  Constitution,  on  this  hypothesis,  is  a  mere  thing 
of  wax  in  the  hands  of  the  judiciary,  which  they  may  twist 
and  shape  into  any  form  they  please.  It  should  be  remembered 
as  an  axiom  of  eternal  truth  in  politics  that  whatever  power 
in  any  government  is  independent  is  absolute  also,  in  theory 
only  at  first,  while  the  spirit  of  the  people  is  up,  but  in  practice 
as  fast  as  that  relaxes.  Independence  can  be  trusted  nowhere 
but  with  the  people  in  the  mass.  They  are  inherently  inde 
pendent  of  all  but  moral  law.  My  construction  of  the  Consti 
tution  is  very  different  from  that  you  quote.  It  is  that  each 
department  is  truly  independent  of  the  others,  and  has  an  equal 
right  to  decide  for  itself  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  Constitu 
tion  in  the  cases  submitted  to  its  action,  and"  especially  where 
it  is  to  act  ultimately  and  without  appeal.  I  will  explain  myself^ 
by  examples  which  have  occurred  while  I  was  in  office  and 
better  known  to  me  and  the  principles  which  governed  them. 

A  legislature  had  passed  a  sedition  law.     The  federal  courts'* 
had  subjected  certain  individuals  to  its  penalties  of  fine  and 
imprisonment.    On  coming  into  office,  I  released  those  individ 
uals  by  the  power  of  pardon  committed  to  executive  discretion 
which  could  never  be  more  completely  exercised  than  where! 
citizens  were  suffering  without  the  authority  of  law,  or  which 
was  equivalent,  under  a  law  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution 
and  therefore  null.     In  the  case  of  Marbury  and  Madison,  the 
federal  judges  declared  that  commissions  signed  and  sealed  by 
the  President  were  valid,  although  not  delivered.     I  deemed 


276  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

delivery  essential  to  complete  a  deed,  which,  as  long  as  it 
remains  in  the  hands  of  the  party,  is  as  yet  no  deed,  it  is  in  posse 
»nly,  but  not  in  esse,  and  I  withheld  a  delivery  of  commissions. 
They  cannot  issue  a  mandamus  to  the  President  or  Legislature 

or  any  of  their  officers.    When  the  British  treaty  of arrived, 

without  any  provision  against  the  impressment  of  our  seamen, 
I  determined  not  to  ratify  it.  The  Senate  thought  that  I  should 
ask  their  advice.  I  thought  that  would  be  a  mockery  of  them, 
when  I  was  predetermined  against  following  it,  should  they 
advise  its  ratification.  The  Constitution  had  made  their  advice 
necessary  to  confirm  a  treaty  but  not  to  reject  it.  This  has 
been  blamed  by  some;  but  I  have  never  doubted  its  soundness. 
In  the  cases  of  two  persons  antenati,  under  exactly  similar 
circumstances,  the  federal  court  had  determined  that  one  of 
them  (Duane)  was  not  a  citizen;  the  House  of  Representatives 
nevertheless  determined  that  the  other  (Smith  of  South  Caro 
lina)  was  a  citizen  and  admitted  him  to  a  seat  in  their  body. 
Duane  was  a  republican  and  Smith  a  federalist,  and  their  de 
cisions  were  made  during  the  federal  ascendency. 

These  are  examples  of  my  position  that  each  of  the  three^ 
departments  has  equally  the  right  to  decide  for  itself  what  is 
its  duty  under  the  Constitution.     (To    Judge    Roane,   1819. 
C.  VII.,  1 33-) 

^    JUDICIARY,  FEDERAL. — You  seem  to  consider  the  judges  as  the* 
ultimate  arbiters  of  all  constitutional  questions;  a  very  dangerous 
doctrine  indeed,  and  one  that  would  place  us  under  the  despot 
ism  of  an  oligarchy.     Our  judges  are  as  honest  as  other  men 
are  and  no  more  so.    They  have  with  others  the  same  passions" 
for  party,  for  power,  and  the  privilege  of  their  corps.     Theiit, 
maxim  is  boni  jiidicis  est  ampliare  jurisdictionem,   and  their 
power  is  more  dangerous  as  they  are  in  office  for  life,  and  not 
responsible,  as  the  other  functionaries  are,  to  the  elective  con-j 
trol.     The  Constitution  has  erected  no  such  single  tribunal,) 
knowing  that  to  whatever  hands  confided,  with  the  corruptions! 
of  time  and  party  its  members  would  become  despots.     It  has/ 
more  wisely  made  all  the  departments  co-equal  and  co-sovereign1 
with  themselves.     If  the  Legislature  fails  to  pass  laws  for 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  277 

census,  for  paying  the  judges  and  other  officers  of  government 
for  establishing  a  militia,  for  naturalization  as  prescribed  by 
the  Constitution,  or  if  they  fail  to  meet  in  Congress,  the  judges 
cannot  issue  their  mandamus  to  them;  if  the  President  fails  tp 
supply  the  place  of  a  judge,  to  appoint  other  civil  or  military 
officers,  to  issue  requisite  commissions,  the  judges  cannot  force 
him.      They   can   issue  their   mandamus   or   distringas   to  no 
executive  or  legislative  officer  to  enforce  the  fulfilment  of  their 
official  duties  any  more  than  the  President  or  Legislature  may 
issue  orders  to  the  judges  or  their  officer.    Betrayed  by  English, 
example,  and  unaware,  as  it  would  seem,  of  the  control  of  our 
Constitution  in  this  particular,  they  have  at  times  overstepped 
their  limit  by  undertaking  to  command  executive  officers  in 
the  discharge  of  their  executive  duties;  but  the  Constitution,  inrt 
keeping  three  departments  distinct  and  independent,  restrains  \ 
the  authority  of  the  judges  to  judiciary  organs,  as  it  does  the  ' 
executive  and  legislative  to  executive  and  legislative  organs. 
The  judges  certainly  have  more  frequent  occasion  to  act  on 
constitutional  questions,  because  the  laws  of  meum  and  tuum 
and  of  criminal  action,  forming  the  great  mass  of  the  system 
of  law,  constitute  their  particular  department.    When  the  legis^ 
lative  or  executive  functionaries  act  unconstitutionally  they  are 
responsible  to  the  people  in  their  elective  capacity.     The  ex-  lt 
ception  of  the  judges  from  that  is  quite  dangerous  enough.     I  | 
know  of  no  safe  depository  of  the  ultimate  powers  of  society  ' , 
but  the  people  themselves;  and  if  we  think  them  not  enlightened 
enough  to  exercise  their  control  with  a  \vholesome  discretion, 
the  remedy  is  not  to  take  it  from  them,  but  to  inform  their 
discretion  by  education.     This  is  the  true  corrective  for  abuses 
of  constitutional  power.     (To  ,Mr.  Jarvis,  1820.     C.  VII.,  178.)^ 
^  JUDICIARY,,  FEDERAL. — But  there  was  another  amendment  (to 
the  Constitution)  of  which  none  of  us  thought  at  the  time,  and 
in  the  omission  of  which  lurks  the  germ  that  is  to  destroy  this 
happy  combination  of  national  powers  in  the  general  govern 
ment  for  matters  of  national  concern  and  independent  powers 
in    the     States     for    what     concerns    the     States     severally. 
In    England    it    was    a    great    point    gained    at    the  Revo- 

4 


278  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

lution  that  the  commissions  of  the  judges  which  had 
hitherto  been  during  pleasure  should  henceforth  be  made 
during  good  behavior.  A  judiciary  dependent  on  the  will  of 
the  King  had  proved  itself  the  most  oppressive  of  all  tools  in 
the  hand  of  that  magistrate.  Nothing  then  could  be  more 
salutary  than  a  change  there  to  the  tenure  of  good  behavior; 
and  the  question  of  good  behavior  left  to  the  vote  of  a  simple 
majority  in  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament.  Before  the  Revolu 
tion  we  were  all  good  English  whigs,  cordial  in  their  free 
principles  and  in  their  jealousies  of  their  executive  magistrate. 
These  jealousies  are  very  apparent  in  all  our  State  Constitu-, 
tions,  and,  in  the  general  government  in  this  instance,  we  have 
gone  even  beyond  the  English  caution  by  requiring  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  in  one  of  the  Houses  for  removing  a  judge;  a  vote 
so  impossible  that  where  any  defence  is  made  before  men  of  or 
dinary  prejudices  and  passions  that  our  judges  are  effectually 
independent  of  the  nation.  But  this  ought  not  to  be.,, 
I  would  not  indeed  make  them  dependent  on  the  ex 
ecutive  authority  as  they  formerly  were  in  England, 
but  I  deem  it  indispensable  to  the  continuance  of  this 
government  that  they  should  be  submitted  to  some 
practical  and  impartial  control;  and  this,  to  be  imparted,  must,/ 
be  compounded  of  a  mixture  of  State  and  federal  authorities.^. 
It  is  not  enough  that  honest  men  are  appointed  judges.  All 
know  the  influence  of  interest  on  the  mind  of  man  and  how 
unconsciously  his  judgment  is  warped  by  that  influence.  To 
this  bias  add  that  of  the  esprit  de  corps  of  their  peculiar  maxim 
and  creed,  that  "it  is  the  office  of  a  good  judge  to  enlarge  his 
jurisdiction"  and  the  absence  of  responsibility;  and  how  can  we 
expect  impartial  decision  between  the  general  government  of 
which  they  are  themselves  so  eminent  a  part  and  an  individual 
State  from  which  they  have  nothing  to  hope  or  fear?  We  havf 
seen,  too,  that  contrary  to  all  correct  example,  they  are  in 
the  habit  of  going  out  of  the  question  before  them  to  throw 
an  anchor  ahead  and  grapple  further  hold  for  future  advances 
of  power.  They  are  then  in  fact  the  corps  of  sappers  and  miners 
steadily  wishing  to  undermine  the  independent  rights  of  the'"" 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  279 

States,  and  to  consolidate  all  power  in  the  hands  of  that  govern* 
ment  which  they  have  so>  important  a  free  hold  estate.  But* 
it  is  not  by  the  consolidation  or  concentration  of  powers,  but 
by  their  distribution  that  good  government  is  effected.  Were 
not  this  great  country  already  divided  into  States,  that  division 
must  be  made,  that  each  might  do  for  itself  what  concerns 
itself  directly,  and  what  it  can  so  much  better  do  than  a  distant 
authority.  Every  State  again  is  divided  into  counties,  each  to 
take  care  of  what  it  has  within  its  local  bounds;  each  county 
again  into  townships  or  wards  to  manage  minute  details;  and 
every  ward  into  farms,  to  be  governed  each  by  its  individual 
proprietor.  Were  we  directed  from  Washington  when  to  sow 
and  when  to  reap',  we  should  soon  want  bread.  It  is  by  this 
partition  of  cares  descending  in  graduation  from  general  to 
particular  that  the  mass  of  human  affairs  may  be  best  managed 
for  the  good  and  prosperity  of  all.  I  repeat  that  I  do  nof* 
charge  the  judges  with  wilful  and  ill-intentioned  error;  but 
honest  error  must  be  arrested  where  its  toleration  leads  to  public 
ruin.  As  for  the  safety  of  society,  \ve  commit  honest  maniacs 
to  Bedlam,  so  judges  should  be  withdrawn  from  the  bench 
whose  erroneous  biases  are  leading  us  to  dissolution.  It  may/, 
indeed,  injure  them  in  fame  or  in  fortune,  but  it  saves  the  Re 
public,  which  is  the  first  and  supreme  law.  (From  Autobiogv 
raphy,  1821.  C.  I.,  81.) 

JUDICIARY,  FEDERAL. — The  nation  will  judge  both  the  offender 
and  judges  for  themselves.  If  a  member  of  the  executive  or 
Legislature  does  wrong,  the  day  is  never  far  distant  when  the-x 
people  will  remove  him.  They  will  see  then  and  amend  the  error 
in  our  Constitution,  which  makes  any  branch  independent  of 
the  nation.  They  will  see  that  one  of  the  great  co-ordinate 
branches  of  the  Government,  setting  itself  in  opposition  to  the 
other  two,  and  to  the  common  sense  of  the  nation,  proclaims 
impunity  to  that  class  of  offenders  which  endeavor  to  overturn 
the  Constitution,  and  are  themselves  protected  by  the  Consti 
tution  itself;  for  impeachment  is  a  farce  that  will  not  be  tried 
again.  (To  William  B.  Giles,  1807.  C.  V.,  68.) 

JUDICIARY,  FEDERAL. — The  great  object  of  my  fear  is  the  fed- 


280  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

eral  judiciary.  That  body,  like  gravity,  with  noiseless  foot  and 
unalarming  advance,  gaining  ground  step  by  step,  and  holding 
what  it  gains,  is  ingulphing  insidiously  the  special  governments 
into  the  jaws  of  that  which  feeds  them.  (To  Judge  Roane,  1821. 
C.  VII..,  212.) 

~~  JUDICIARY,  FEDERAL. — We  already  see  the  power  installed  fof 
life  responsible  to  no  authority  advancing  with  a  noiseless  and 
steady  pace  to  the  great  object  of  consolidation.  The  founda 
tions  are  already  deeply  laid  by  the  decisions  for  the  annihilation 
of  constitutional  State  rights  and  the  removal  of  every  checki 
every  counterpart  to  the  ingulfing  power  of  which  the  memberi 
are  to  make  a  sovereign  port.  If  ever  this  vast  country  is 
brought  under  a  single  government  it  will  be  one  of  the  most 
extensive  corruptions,  indifferent  and  incapable  of  a  wholesome, 
care  over  so  wide  a  spread  of  surface.  This  will  not  be  bornej 
and  you  will  have  to  choose  between  reformation  and  revolution.; 
If  I  know  the  spirit  of  the  country,  the  one  or  the  other  is 
inevitable.  Before  the  canker  is  become  inevitable,  before 
its  venom  has  reached  so  much  of  the  body  politic  as  to 
get  beyond  control,  remedy  should  be  applied.  Let  the 
future  appointment  of  judges  be  for  four  or  six  years,  andj 
renewable  by  the  President  and  Senate.  This  will  bring  their 
conduct,  at  regular  periods,  under  revision  and  probation  and 
may  keep  them  in  equipoise  between  the  general  and  special 
governments.  We  have  erred  in  this  point  by  copying  England, 
where  certainly  it  is  a  good  thing  to  have  the  judges  inde 
pendent  of  the  King.  But  we  have  omitted  to  copy  this  caution 
also  which  makes  a  judge  removable  on  the  advice  of  both 
legislative  houses.  That  there  should  be  public  friction  inde 
pendent  of  the  nation  whatever  may  be  their  demerit,  is  a  sole 
cause  in  a  republic  of  the  first  order  of  absurdity  and  incon 
sistency.  (To  W.  T.  Bany,  1822.  C.  VII.,  256.) 

JUDICIARY,  FEDERAL. — One  single  object,  if  your  provision" 
attains  it,  will  entitle  you  to  the  endless  gratitude  of  society, 
that  of  restraining  judges  from  usurping  legislation.  And  with 
no  body  of  men  is  this  restraint  more  wanting  than  with  the 
judges  of  what  is  commonly  called  our  general  government, 


OF    THOMAS   JEFFERSON  281 

but  what  I  call  our  foreign  department.     They  are  practicing" 
on  the  Constitution  by  inferences,  analogies  and  sophisms  as 
they  would  on  an  ordinary  law.    They  do  not  seem  aware  that 
it  is  not  even  a  Constitution,  formed  by  a  single  authority  and 
subject  to  a  single  superintendence  and  control;  but  that  it  is  a 
compact  of  many  independent  powers,  every  single  one  of  which 
causes  an  equal  right  to  understand  it  and  to  require  its  ob 
servance.     However  strong  the  cord  of  compact  may  be  ther^ 
is  a  point  of  tension  at  which  it  will  break.    A  fe\v  such  doctrinal 
decisions  as  bare-faced  as  that  of  the  Cohens  happening  to  bear 
immediately  on  two  or  three  large  States  may  induce  them  to 
join  in  arresting  the  march  of  government  and  in  arousing  the 
co-States  to  pay  some  attention  to  what  is  passing,  to  bring 
back  the  compact  to  its  original  principles,  or  to  modify  it 
legitimately  by  the  express  consent  of  the  parties  themselves, 
and   not   by   the   usurpation   of  their  created   agents.     They 
imagine  they  can  lead  us  into  a  consolidated  government  while 
their  road  leads  directly  to  dissolution.     This  member  of  the. 
government  was  at  first  considered  the  most  harmless  and  help-!) 
less  of  all  its  organs.     But  it  has  proved  that  the  power  ofll 
declaring  what  the  law  is,  ad  libitum,  sapping  and  mining,  slilyh 
and  without  alarm  the  foundations  of  the  Constitution,  can  do 
what  open  force  would  not  dare  to  attempt.    (To  Edward  Liv-  ** 
ingston,  1825.     C.  VII.,  403.) 

JUDICIARY,  FEDERAL.  —  See  Supreme  Court. 
^JURIES.  —  All  facts  in  causes  whether  of  Chancery,  Common,  „ 
Ecclesiastical,  or  Marine  law  shall  be  tried  by  a  jury  upon 
evidence  given  viva  voce,  in  open  court.     *     *     *     All  fines 
or  amercements  shall  be  assessed  and  terms  of  imprisonment 
for  contempts  and  misdemeanors  shall  be  fixed  by  a  jury.  (From 
a  proposed  Constitution  for  Virginia,  1776.    F.  II.  ,  24.) 


*•  —  JURIES.  —  We  think  in  America  that  it  is  necessary  to  i 
duce  the  people  into  every  department  of  government  as  far  as 
they  are  capable  of  exercising  it;    and  that  the  institution  of 
the  jury  is  the  only  way  to  ensure  a  long  continued  and  honest 
administration  of  its  powers.     *     *     *     They  are  not  qualified^ 
to  judge  questions  of  law;  but  they  are  very  capable  of  judging 


282  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

questions  of  fact.     In  the  form  of  juries,  therefore,  they  deter 
mine  all  matters  of  fact,  leaving  to  the  permanent  judges  teo 
decide  the  law  resulting  from  these  facts.    But  we  all  know  that 
permanent  judges  acquire  Esprit  de  Corps,  that  being  known, 
they  are  liable  to  be  tempted  by  bribery,  that  they  are  misled  by 
favor,  by  relationship,  by  a  spirit  of  party,  by  a  devotion  to.  the 
Executive  or  Legislature.    That  it  is  better  to  leave  a  cause  to* 
the  decision  of  cross  and  pile,  than  to<  that  judge  biased  to  one  I 
side;   and  that  the  opinion  of  twelve  honest  jurymen  gives  still] 
a  better  hope  of  right  than  cross  and  pile  does.    It  is  left,  there/L 
fore,  to  the  juries,  if  they  think  the  permanent  judges  are  under 
any  bias  whatever  in  any  cause,  to  take  on  themselves  to  judge 
the  laws  as  well  as  the  fact.     They  never  exercise  this  power 
but  when  they  suspect  partiality  in  the  judges,   and  by  the 
exercise  of  this  power  they  have  been  the  firmest  bulwark  of 
English  liberty.     Were  I  called  upon  to  decide  whether  the 
people  had  best  be  omitted  in  the  legislative  or  judiciary  depart 
ment,  I  would  say  it  is  better  to  have  them  out  of  the  Legis 
lature.     The  execution  of  the  laws  is  more  important  than  the 
making  of  them.     However,  it  is  best  to  have  the  people  in  all 
the   three   departments   where   that   is   possible.      (Written   to^ 
L'Abbe  Arnoud,  Paris,  1789.    F.  V.,  104.) 

JUSTICE. — The  administration  of  justice  is  a  branch  of  the 
sovereignty  over  a  country,  and  belongs  exclusively  to*  the 
nation  inhabiting  it.  No  foreign  power  can  pretend  to  partici 
pate  in  their  jurisdiction  or  that  their  citizens  received  there 
are  not  subject  to  it.  When  a  cause  has  been  adjudged  accord 
ing  to  the  rules  and  forms  of  the  country,  its  justice  ought  to  be 
presumed.  Even  error  in  the  highest  court  is  one  of  these 
inconveniences  flowing  from  the  imperfections  of  our  faculties, 
to  which  every  society  must  submit;  because  there  must  be 
somewhere  a  last  resort  wherein  contestations  may  end.  Multi 
ply  bodies  of  revisal  as  you  please,  their  number  will  be  finite  and 
they  must  finish  in  the  hands  of  fallible  men  as  judges.  (Tot 
the  British  Minister,  1792.  F.  VI.,  56.) 

KENTUCKY    RESOLUTIONS. — Jefferson's    Draft,     1798. — Rfe* 
solved,  That  the  several  States  composing  the  United  States  of 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  283 

America,  are  not  united  on  the  principle  of  unlimited  submis 
sion  to  their  general  government;  but  that,  by  a  compact  under 
the  style  and  title  of  a  Constitution  for  the  United  States,  and 
of  amendments  thereto,  they  constituted  a  general  government}! 
for    special    purposes — delegated  to>  that  government  certain! 
definite  powers,  reserving,  each  State  to  itself,  the  residuary 
mass  of  right  to  their  own  self-government;    and  that  when 
soever  the  general  government  assumes  undelegated  powers,  its 
acts  are  unauthoritative,  void,  and  of  no>  force;    that  to  this, 
compact  each  State  acceded  as  a  State,  and  is  an  integral  party/j 
its  co-States  forming,  as  to  itself,  the  other  party;  that  the  gov 
ernment  created  by  this  compact  was  not  made  the  exclusive 
or  final  judge  of  the  extent  of  the  powers  delegated  to  itself; 
since  that  would  have  made  its  discretion,  and  not  the  Constitu 
tion,  the  measure  of  its  powrers;   but  that,  as  in  all  other  cases 
of  compact  among  powers  having  no  common  judge,  each  party 
has  an  equal  right  to  judge  for  itself,  as  well  of  infractions  as  of  i^ 
the  mode  and  measure  of  redress. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
having  delegated  to  Congress  a  power  to  punish  treason,  coun 
terfeiting  the  securities  and  current  coin  of  the  United  States, 
piracies,  and  felonies  committed  on  the  high  seas,  and  offences 
against  the  law  of  nations,  and  no  other  crimes  whatsoever;  and 
it  being  true  as  a  general  principle,  and  one  of  the  amendments 
to  the  Constitution  having  so  declared,  that  "the  powers  nob- 
delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  not  pro 
hibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respect- 
ively,  or  to  the  people,"  therefore  the  act  of  Congress,  passed 
on  the  I4th  day  of  July,  1798,  and  intituled  "An  Act  in  addition 
to  the  act  intituled  An  Act  for  the  punishment  of  certain  crimes 
against  the  United  States,"  as  also  the  act  passed  by  them  on  the 
day  of  June,  1798,  intituled  "An  Act  to  punish  frauds  com 
mitted  on  the  bank  of  the  United  States"  (and  all  their  other 
acts  which  assume  to  create,  define,  or  punish  crimes,  other 
than  those  so  enumerated  in  the  Constitution),  are  altogether 
void,  and  of  no  force;  and  that  the  power  to  create,  define  ancj 
punish  such  other  crimes  is  reserved,  and,  of  right,  appertains 


284  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

solely  and  exclusively  to  the  respective  States,  each  within  its 
own  territory. 

3.  Resolved,  That  it  is  true  as  a  general  principle,  and  is** 
also  expressly  declared  by  one  of  the  amendments  to  the  Consti 
tution,  that  "the  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by 
the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are 
reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  or  to  the  people;"  and  that 
no  power  over  the  freedom  of  religion,  freedom  of  speech,  or 
freedom  of  the  press  being  delegated  to  the  United  States,  all 
lawful  powers  respecting  the  same  did  of  right  remain,  and 
were  reserved  to  the  States  or  the  people:  that  thus  was  mani 
fested  their  determination  to  retain  to  themselves  the  right^ofl 
judging  how  far  the  licentiousness  of  speech  and  of  the  press, 
may  be  abridged  without  lessening  their  useful  freedom,  and! 
how  far  those  abuses  which  cannot  be  separated  from  their  use 
should  be  tolerated,  rather  than  the  use  be  destroyed.  And 
thus  also  they  guarded  against  all  abridgment  by  the  United 
States  of  the  freedom  of  religious  opinions  and  exercises,  and 
retained  to>  themselves  the  right  of  protecting  the  same,  as  this 
State,  by  a  law  passed  on  the  general  demand  of  its  citizens, 
had  already  protected  them  from  all  human  restraint  or  inter 
ference.  And  that  in  addition  to  this  general  principle  and 
express  declaration,  another  and  more  special  provision  has 
been  made  by  one  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  which 
expressly  declares,  that  "Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting 
an  establishment  of  religion  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise 
thereof,  or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press;" 
thereby  guarding  in  the  same  sentence,  and  under  the  same 
words,  the  freedom  of  religion,  of  speech,  and  of  the  press: 
insomuch,  that  \vhatever  violates  either,  throws  down  the 
sanctuary  which  covers  the  others,  and  that  libels,  falsehood, 
and  defamation,  equally  with  heresy  and  false  religion,  are  with 
held  from  the  cognizance  of  Federal  tribunals.  That,  therefor^ 
the  act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States,  passed  on  the  I4th  day 
of  July,  1798,  intituled  "An  Act  in  addition  to  the  act  intituled 
An  Act  for  the  punishment  of  certain  crimes  against  the  United 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  285 

States,"  which  does  abridge  the  freedom  of  the  press,  is  not 
law,  but  is  altogether  void,  and  of  no  force. 

4.  Resolved,  That  alien  friends  are  under  the  jurisdiction 
and  protection  of  the  laws  of  the  State  wherein  they  are;   that 
no  power  over  them  has  been  delegated  to  the  United  States, 
nor  prohibited  to  the  individual    States,    distinct    from    their 
power  over  citizens.     And  it  being  true  as  a  general  principle, 
and  one  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution  having  also 
declared,  that  "the  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States 
by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are 
reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  or  to  the  people,"  the  act  of 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  passed  on  the  -     -  day  of  July, 
1798,  intituled  "An  Act  concerning    aliens,"    which    assumes 
powers  over  alien  friends,  not  delegated  by  the  Constitution, 
is  not  law,  but  is  altogether  void  and  of  no  force. 

5.  Resolved,  That  in  addition  to  the  general  principle,  as 
well  as  the  express  declaration,  that  powers  not  delegated  are 
reserved,  another  and  more  special  provision,  inserted  in  the 
Constitution   from   abundant  caution,   has   declared  that   "the 
migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the  States 
now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited 
by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  year  1808;"    that  this  Common 
wealth  does  admit  the  migration  of  alien  friends,  described  as 
the  subject  of  the  said  act  concerning  aliens;   that  a  provision 
against  prohibiting  their  migration,  is  a  provision  against  all 
acts  equivalent  thereto,  or  it  would  be  nugatory;  that  to  remove 
them  when  immigrated,  is  equivalent  to  a  prohibition  of  their 
migration,  and  is,  therefore,  contrary  to  the  said  provision  of 
the  Constitution,  and  void. 

6.  Resolved,  That  the  imprisonment  of  a  person  under  the 
protection  of  the  laws  of  this  Commonwealth,  on  his  failure  to 
obey  the  simple  order  of  the  President  to  depart  out  of  the 
United  States  as  is  undertaken  by  said  act  intituled  "An  Act 
concerning  aliens,"  is  contrary  to  the  Constitution,  one  amend 
ment  to  which  has  provided  that  "no  person  shall  be  deprived 
of  liberty  without  due  process  of  law ;"  and  that  another  having 
provided  that  "in  all  criminal  prosecutions  the  accused  shall 


286  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

enjoy  the  right  to  public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury,  to  be 
informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation,  to  be  con 
fronted  with  the  witness  against  him,  to  have  compulsory  pro 
cess  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the 
assistance  of  counsel  for  his  defence;"  the  same  act,  undertak 
ing  to  authorize  the  President  to  remove  a  person  out  of  the 
United  States,  who  is  under  the  prgt^ption  of  the  law,  on  his 
own  suspicion,  without  accusation,  without  jury,  without  public 
trial,  without  confrontation  of  the  witnesses  against  him,  with 
out  hearing  witnesses  in  his  favor,  without  defense,  without 
counsel,  is  contrary  to  the  provision  also  of  the  Constitution,  is 
therefore  not  law  but  utterly  void,  and  of  no  force;  that  trans 
ferring  the  power  of  judging  any  person,  who  is  under  trie  pro 
tection  of  the  laws,  from  the  courts  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  as  is  undertaken  by  the  same  act  concerning 
aliens,  is  against  the  article  of  the  Constitution  which  provides 
that  "the  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  be  vested  in 
courts,  the  judges  of  which  shall  hold  their  offices  during  good 
behavior;"  and  that  the  said  act  is  void  for  that  reason  also. 
And  it  is  further  to  be  noted,  that  this  transfer  of  judiciary 
power  is  to  that  magistrate  of  the  general  government  who 
already  possesses  all  the  Executive,  and  a  negative  on  all  Legis 
lative  powers.  . 
7.  Resolved,  That  the  construction  applied  by  the  general 
government  (as  is  evidenced  by  sundry  of  their  proceedings)  to 
those  parts  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  which  dele 
gate  to  Congress  a  power  "to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  im 
ports,  and  excises,  to  pay  the  debts,  and  provide  for  the  common 
defence  and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States,"  and  "to 
make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying 
into  execution  the  powers  vested  by  the  Constitution  in  the/ 
government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  department  orj! 
officer  thereof,"  goes  to  the  destruction  of  all  limits  prescribedj 
to  their  power  by  the  Constitution;  that  words  meant  by  the 
instrument  to  be  subsidiary  only  to  the  execution  of  limited 
powers,  ought  not  to  be  construed  as  themselves  to  give  un 
limited  powers,  nor  a  part  to  be  so  taken  as  to  destroy  the  whole 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  287 

residue  of  that  instrument;  that  the  proceedings  of  the  general*" 
government   under   color  of   these   articles,   will  be   a   fit   and 
necessary  subject  of  revisal  and  correction,  at  a  time  of  greater 
tranquillity,  while  those  specified  in  the  preceding  resolutions^ 
call  for  immediate  redress. 

8.  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  conference  and  corre 
spondence  be  appointed,  who  shall  have  in  charge  to  communi 
cate  the  preceding  resolutions  to  the  legislatures  of  the  several 
States;  to  assure  them  that  this  Commonwealth  continues  in 
the  same  esteem  of  their  friendship  and  union  which  it  has 
manifested  from  that  moment  at  which  a  common  danger  first 
suggested  a  common  union:  that  it  considers  union,  for 
specified  national  purposes,  and  particularly  to  those  specified 
in  their  late  federal  compact,  to  be  friendly  to  the  peace,  hap 
piness  and  prosperity  of  all  the  States:  that  faithful  to  their 
compact,  according  to  the  plain  intent  and  meaning  in  which 
it  was  understood  and  acceded  to  by  the  several  parties,  it  is 
sincerely  anxious  for  its  preservation:  that  it  does  also  believe?* 
that  to  take  from  the  States  all  the  powers  of  self-government 
and  transfer  them  to  a  general  and  consolidated  government, 
without  regard  to  the  special  delegations  and  reservations  sol 
emnly  agreed  to  in  that  compact,  is  not  for  the  peace,  happi 
ness  or  prosperity  of  these  States;  and  that  therefore  this 
Commonwealth  is  determined,  as  it  doubts  not  its  co-States 
are,  to  submit  to  undelegated,  and  consequently  unlimited 
powers  in  no  man,  or  body  of  men  on  earth:  that  in  cases  of 
an  abuse  of  the  delegated  powers,  the  members  of  the  general 
government,  being  chosen  by  the  people,  a  change  by  the^ 
people  would  be  the  constitutional  remedy;  but,  where  powers 
are  assumed  which  have  not  been  delegated,  a  nullification  of 
the  act  is  the  rightful  remedy:  that  every  State  has  a  natural  ^ 
right  in  cases  not  within  the  compact  (casus  non  foederis),  ta 
nullify  of  their  own  authority  all  assumptions  of  power  by 
others  within  their  limits:  that  without  this  right,  they  would, 
be  under  the  dominion,  absolute  and  unlimited,  of  whosoever 
might  exercise  this  right  of  judgment  for  them:  that  neverthe-- 
less,  this  Commonwealth,  from  motives  of  regard  and  respect 


288  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

for  its  co-States,  has  wished  to  communicate  with  them  on> 
the  subject:  that  with  them  alone  it  is  proper  to  communicate,* 
they  alone  being  parties  to  the  compact,  and  solely  authorized 
to  judge  in  the  last  resort  of  the  powers  exercised  under  it, 
Congress  being  not  a  party,  but  merely  the  creature  of  the 
compact,  and  subject  as  to  its  assumptions  of  power  to  the 
final  judgment  of  those  by  whom,  and  for  whom,  its  use  and  its 
powers  were  all  created  and  modified:  that  if  the  acts  before 
specified  should  stand,  these  conclusions  would  flow  from  them; 
that  the  general  government  may  place  any  act  they  thim: 
proper  on  the  list  of  crimes,  and  punish  it  themselves  whether 
enumerated  or  not  enumerated  by  the  Constitution  as  cogniz 
able  by  them:  that  they  may  transfer  its  cognizance  to  the 
President  or  any  other  person,  who  may  himself  be  the  accuser, 
counsel,  judge  and  jury,  whose  suspicions  may  be  the  evidence, 
his  order  the  sentence,  his  officer  the  executioner,  and  his  breast 
the  sole  record  of  the  transaction:  that  a  very  numerous  and 
valuable  description  of  the  inhabitants  of  these  States  being, 
by  this  precedent,  reduced,  as  outlaws,  to  the  absolute  dominion 
of  one  man,  and  the  barrier  of  the  Constitution  thus  swept 
away  from  us  all,  no  rampart  now  remains  against  the  passions 
and  the  powers  of  a  majority  in  Congress  to  protect  from  a  like 
exportation,  or  other  more  grievous  punishment,  the  minority 
of  the  same  body,  the  legislatures,  judges,  governors  and  coun 
sellors  of  the  States,  nor  their  other  peaceable  inhabitants,  wrho 
may  venture  to  reclaim  the  constitutional  rights  and  liberties 
of  the  States  and  people,  or  who  for  other  causes,  good  or  bad, 
may  be  obnoxious  to  the  views,  or  marked  by  the  suspicions  of 
the  President,  or  be  thought  dangerous  to  his  or  their  election, 
or  other  interests,  public  or  personal:  that  the  friendless  alien 
has  indeed  been  selected  as  the  safest  subject  of  a  first  experi 
ment;  but  the  citizen  will  soon  follow,  or,  rather,  has  already 
followed,  for  already  has  a  sedition  act  marked  him  as  its  prey; 
that  these  and  successive  acts  of  the  same  character,  unless 
arrested  at  the  threshold,  necessarily  drive  these  States  into 
revolution  and  blood,  and  will  furnish  new  calumnies  against 
Republican  government,  and  new  pretexts  for  those  who  wish 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  289 

it  to  be  believed  that  man  cannot  be  governed  by  but  a  rod  ov\ 
iron.     That  this  Commonwealth  does  therefore  call  on  its  co- 
States  for  an  expression  of  their  sentiments  on  the  acts  con 
cerning  aliens,  and  for  the  punishment  of  certain  crimes  herein 
before  specified,  plainly  declaring  whether  these  acts  are  or  are 
not  authorized  by  the  Federal  compact.    And  it  doubts  not  that 
their  sense  will  be  so  announced  as  to  prove  their  attachment 
unaltered  to  limited  government,  whether  general  or  particular. 
And   that  the  rights  and   liberties  of  their  co-States  will  be 
exposed  to  no  dangers  by  remaining  embarked  in  a  common 
bottom  with  their  own.    That  they  will  concur  with  this  Corn^ 
monwealth  in  considering  the  said  acts  as  so  palpably  against 
the  Constitution  as  to*  amount  to  an  undisguised  declaration 
that  that  compact  is  not  meant  to  be  the  measure  of  the  powers 
of   the  general   government,   but   that   it   will   proceed   in   the 
exercise  over  these  States,  of  all  powers  whatsoever:   that  they 
will  view  this  as  seizing  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  consolidat 
ing  them  in  the  hands  of  the  general  government,  with  a  power 
assumed  to*  bind  the  States   (not  merely  as   the  cases  made 
federal,  casus  foederis),  but  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  by  laws  \ 
made,  not  with  their  consent,  but  by  others  against  their  con-' 
sent:   that  this  would  be  to  surrender  the  form  of  government^ 
we  have  chosen,  and  live  under  one  deriving  its  powers  from  its/ 
own  will,  and  not  from  our  authority;   and  that  the  co-States, 
recurring  to  their  natural  right  in  cases  not  made  federal,  will 
concur  in  declaring  these  acts  void,  and  of  no  force,  and  will 
each  take  measures  of  its  own  for  providing  that  neither  these 
acts,  nor  any  other  of  the  general  government  not  plainly  and 
intentionally  authorized  by  the  Constitution,  shall  be  exercised 
within  their  respective  territories. 

9.  Resolved,  That  the  said  committee  be  authorized  to  com 
municate  by  writing  or  personal  conferences,  at  any  times  or 
places  whatever,  with  any  person  or  persons  who  may  be  ap 
pointed  by  any  one  or  more  co-States  to  correspond  or  confer 
with  them;  and  that  they  lay  their  proceedings  before  the  next 
session  of  Assembly. 

KINGS. — These  are  our  grievances  which  we  have  thus  laid 


290  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

before  His  Majesty,  with  that  freedom  of  language  and  senti 
ment  which  becomes  a  free  people  claiming  their  rights  as  de 
rived  from  the  laws  of  nature,  and  not  as  the  gift  of  their  chief 
magistrate.  Let  those  flatter  who  fear,  it  is  not  an  American  act. 
They  know,  and  will  therefore  say,  that  kings  are  the  servants, 
not  the  proprietors,  of  the  people.  (From  "A  Summary  View," 
1774.  F.  L,  446.) 

KINGS. — So  much  for  the  blessings  of  having  kings  and  mag 
istrates  who  would  be  kings.  From  these  events  our  growing 
Republic  may  learn  useful  lessons,  never  to  call  on  foreign 
powers  to  settle  their  differences,  to  guard  against  hereditary 
magistrates,  to  prevent  their  citizens  from  becoming  so  estab 
lished  in  wrath  and  power  as  to  be  thought  worthy  of  alliance 
by  marriage  with  the  nieces,  sisters,  etc.,  of  kings,  and,  in  short, 
to  besiege  the  throne  of  heaven  with  eternal  prayers,  to  extir 
pate  from  creation  this  class  of  human  lions,  tigers  and  mam 
moth  called  kings;  from  whom  let  him  perish  who  does  not 
say,  "Good  Lord,  deliver  us."  (To  Colonel  Humphreys,  1787. 
C.  IL,  253.) 

KINGS. — The  practice  of  kings  marrying  only  in  the  families 
of  kings  has  been  that  of  Europe  for  some  centuries.  Now,  take 
any  race  of  animals,  confine  them  in  idleness  and  inaction, 
whether  in  a  stile,  a  stable  or  a  state-room,  pamper  them  with 
high  diet,  gratify  all  their  sexual  appetites,  immerse  them  in 
sensualities,  nourish  their  passions,  let  everything  bend  before 
them,  and  banish  whatever  might  lead  them  to  think,  and  in  a 
few  generations  they  become  all  body  and  no  mind;  and  this, 
too,  by^ajaw_of  nature^  by  that  very  law  by  which  we  are  in 
constant  practice  of  changing  the  characters  and  propensities 
of  the  animals  we  raise  for  our  own  purposes.  Such  is 
regimen  in  raising  kings,  and  in  this  way  they  have  gone  on  for 
centuries.  While  in  Europe,  I  often  amused  myself  with  con 
templating  the  characters  of  the  then  reigning  sovereigns  of 
Europe.  Louis  XVI.  was  a  fool,  of  my  own  knowledge,  and  in 
despite  of  the  answers  made  for  him  at  his  trial.  The  King  of 
Spain  was  a  fool,  and  of  Naples  the  same.  They  passed  their 
lives  in  hunting,  and  despatched  two  couriers  a  week,  one  thou- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  291 

sand  miles,  to  let  each  other  know  what  game  they  had  killed 
the  preceding  days.  The  King  of  Sardinia  was  a  fool.  All 
these  were  Bourbons.  The  Queen  of  Portugal,  a  Braganza, 
was  an  idiot  by  nature,  and  so  was  the  King  of  Denmark. 
Their  sons,  as  regents,  exercised  the  powers  of  governments. 
The  King  of  Prussia,  successor  to  the  great  Frederick,  was  a 
mere  hog  in  body  as  well  as  in  mind.  Gustavus  of  Sweden  and 
Joseph  of  Austria  were  really  crazy,  and  George  of  England, 
as  you  know,  was  in  a  straight  waistcoat.  There  remained  then 
none  but  old  Catharine  who  had  been  too  lately  picked  up  to 
have  lost  her  common  sense.  In  this  state  Bonaparte  found 
Europe;  and  it  was  this  state  of  its  rulers  which  lost  it  with 
scarce  a  struggle.  These  animals  had  become  without  mind  and 
powerless;  and  so  will  every  hereditary  monarch  be  after  a  few 
generations.  Alexander,  the  grandson  of  Catharine,  is  as  yet 
an  exception.  He  is  able  to  hold  his  own,  but  he  is  only  of 
the  third  generation.  His  race  is  not  yet  worn  out.  And  so 
endeth  the  book  of  kings,  from  all  of  whom  the  Lord  deliver 
us,  and  have  you,  my  friend,  and  all  such  good  men  and  true 
in  his  holy  keeping.  (To  Governor  Langdon,  1810.  C.  V., 


KOSCIUSKO.  —  I  see  Kosciusko  often  and  with  great  pleasure 
mixed  with  commiseration.  He  is  as  pure  a  son  of  liberty  as  I 
have  ever  known,  and  of  that  liberty  which  is  to  go  to  all,  and 
not  to  the  few  or  the  rich  alone.  (To  Horatius  Gates,  1/98. 
F.  VII.,  204.) 

LAFAYETTE.  —  Your  principles  are  decidedly  with  the  tiers 
etat,  and  your  instructions  against  them.  A  compliance  to  the 
latter  on  some  occasions  and  an  adherence  to  the  former  on 
others,  may  give  an  appearance  of  trimming  between  the  two 
parties  which  may  lose  you  both.  You  will  in  the  end  go  over 
wholly  to  the  tiers  etat,  because  it  will  be  impossible  for  you  to 
live  in  a  constant  sacrifice  of  your  own  sentiments  to  the 
prejudices  of  the  noblesse.  But  you  would  be  received  by  the 
tiers  etat  at  any  future  day  coldly  and  without  confidence.  It 
appears  to  me  the  moment  to  take  that  honest  and  manly  stand 
with  them  which  your  own  principles  dictate.  This  will  win 


292  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS  V 

their  hearts  forever,  be  approved  by  the  world  which  marks  and 
honors  you  as  the  man  of  the  people,  and  will  be  an  eternal 
consolation  to  yourself.  (To  LaFayette,  1789.  F.  V.,  92.) 

LAND. — From  the  nature  and  purpose  of  civil  institutions,  all 
the  lands  within  the  limits  which  any  particular  society  has 
circumscribed  around  itself  are  assumed  by  that  society,  and 
subject  to  their  allotment  only.  This  may  be  done  by  them 
selves  assembled  collectively,  or  by  their  Legislature,  to  whom 
they  have  delegated  sovereign  authority;  and  if  they  are  allotted 
in  either  of  these  ways,  each  individual  of  the  society  may 
appropriate  to  himself  such  lands  as  he  finds  vacant,  and  occu 
pancy  will  give  him  title.  (From  "A  Summary  View,"  1774. 

F.  I,  4450 

LAND. — They  will  settle  the  lands  in  spite  of  everybody. 
I  am  at  the  same  time  clear  that  they  should  be  appropriated 
in  small  quantities.  It  is  said  that  worthy  foreigners  will  come 
in  great  numbers  and  they  ought  to  pay  for  the  liberty  we  shall 
have  provided  for  them.  True,  but  make  them  pay  in  settlers. 
A  foreigner  who  brings  a  settler  for  every  100  or  200  acres  of 
land  to  be  granted  him  pays  a  better  price  than  if  he  had  put 
into  the  public  treasury  five  shillings  or  five  pounds.  (To  Ed 
mund  Pendleton,  1776.  F.  II.,  81.) 

LAND. — The  earth  is  given  a  common  stock  for  man  to  labor 
and  live  on.  If  for  the  encouragement  of  industry  we  allow  it  to 
be  appropriated,  we  must  take  care  that  other  employment  be 
provided  to  those  excluded  from  the  appropriation.  If  we  do 
not,  the  fundamental  right  to  labor  the  earth  returns  to  the 
unemployed.  It  is  too  soon  yet  in  our  country  to  say  that  every 
man  who  cannot  find  employment  but  who  can  find  unculti 
vated  land  shall  be  at  liberty  to  cultivate  it,  paying  a  wholesale 
rent.  But  it  is  not  too  soon  to  provide  by  every  possible 
means  that  as  few  as  possible  shall  be  without  a  little  portion 
of  land.  The  small  land  holders  are  the  most  precious  part  of 
a  State.  (To  Rev.  James  Madison,  1795.  F.  VII.,  36.) 

LANGUAGES. — In  my  letter  of  the  i8th,  I  omitted  to  say  any 
thing  of  the  languages  as  part  of  our  proposed  university.  It 
was  not  that  I  think,  as  some  do,  that  they  are  useless.  I  am 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  293 

of  a  very  different  opinion.  I  do  not  think  them  essential  to 
the  obtaining  eminent  degrees  of  science;  but  I  think  them  very 
useful  towards  it.  I  suppose  there  is  a  portion  of  life  during 
which  our  faculties  are  ripe  enough  for  this  and  for  nothing 
more  useful.  *  *  *  To  read  the  Latin  and  Greek  authors 
in  their  original  is  a  sublime  luxury;  and  I  deem  luxury  in 
science  to  be  at  least  as  justifiable  as  in  architecture,  painting, 
gardening,  or  the  other  arts.  I  enjoy  Homer  in  his  own  lan 
guage  infinitely  beyond  Pope's  translation  of  him  and  both 
beyond  the  dull  narrative  of  the  same  events  by  Darus  Phry- 
gius;  and  it  is  an  innocent  enjoyment.  I  thank  on  my  knees 
him  who  directed  my  early  education  for  having  put  into  my 
possession  this  rich  source  of  delight;  and  I  would  not  ex 
change  it  for  anything  which  I  could  thus  have  acquired  and 
have  not  since  acquired.  (To  Joseph  Priestly,  1800.  F.  VII., 

414.) 

LAW. — I  have  pro-posed  to  you  to  carry  on  the  study  of  law 
with  that  of  politics  and  history.  Every  political  measure  will 
forever  have  an  intimate  connection  with  the  laws  of  the  land; 
and  he  who  knows  nothing  of  these  will  often  be  perplexed  and 
often  foiled  by  adversaries  having  the  advantage  of  that  knowl 
edge  over  him.  I  would  therefore  propose  not  only  the  study 
but  the  practice  of  the  law  for  some  time,  to  possess  yourself  of 
the  habit  of  public  speaking.  (To  Thomas  Mann  Randolph, 
written  from  Paris,  1787.  F.  IV.,  405.) 

*.  LAWS. — The  experience  of  all  ages  and  countries  hath  shown 
that  cruel  and  sanguinary  laws  defeat  their  own  purpose,  by 
engaging  the  benevolence  of  mankind  to  withhold  prosecutions, 
to  smother  testimony,  or  to  listen  to  it  with  bias;  and  by  pro 
ducing  in  many  instances  a  total  dispensation  and  impunity 
under  the  names  of  pardon  and  privilege  of  clergy;  when,  if  the 
punishment  were  only  proportioned  to  the  injury,  men  would 
feel  it  their  inclination,  as  well  as  their  duty,  to  see  the  laws 
observed;  and  the  power  of  dispensation,  so  dangerous  and 
mischievous  ofttimes  by  holding  up  a  hope  of  impunity, 
might  totally  be  abolished,  so  that  men  while  contemplating  to 
perpetrate  a  crime  would  see  their  punishment  ensuing  as 


294  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

necessarily  as  effects  follow  their  causes.  (From  a  bill  relating 
to  crimes  and  punishment,  1779.  F.  II.,  205.) 

LAWS. — The  instability  of  our  laws  is  really  an  immense 
evil.  I  think  it  would  be  well  to  provide  in  our  constitutions 
that  there  shall  always  be  a  twelve-month  between  the  engross 
ing  a  bill  and  passing  it,  and  if  circumstances  should  be  thought 
to  require  a  speedier  passage,  it  should  take  two-thirds  of  both 
houses  instead  of  a  bare  majority.  (To  James  Madison,  1787. 
F.  IV.,  480.) 

*  LAWS. — I  agree  in  an  almost  limited  condemnation  of  retro 
spective  laws.  The  few  instances  of  wrong  which  they  redress 
are  so  overweighted  by  the  insecurity  they  draw  over  all  prop 
erty  and  even  over  life  itself  and  by  the  atrocious  violation  of 
both  to  which  they  lead,  that  it  is  better  to  live  under  the  evil 
than  the  remedy.  (From  an  opinion  on  Soldiers'  Accounts, 
1790.  F.  V.,  176.) 

i*l  LAWS. — But  can  laws  be  made  unchangeable?  Can  one  gen 
eration  bind  another,  and  all  others,  in  succession  forever?  I 
think  not.  The  Creator  has  made  the  earth  for  the  living,  not 
for  the  dead.  Rights  and  powers  can  only  belong  to  persons, 
not  to  things,  not  to  mere  matter,  unendowed  with  will.  The 
dead  are  not  even  things.  The  particles  of  matter  which  com 
posed  their  bodies,  make  part  now  of  the  bodies  of  other  ani 
mals,  vegetables,  or  minerals,  of  a  thousand  forms.  To  what 
then  are  attached  the  rights  and  powers  they  hold  while  in  the 
form  of  men?  A  generation  may  bind  itself  as  long  as  its 
majority  continues  in  life;  when  that  has  disappeared  another 
majority  is  in  place,  holds  all  the  rights  and  powers  their 
predecessors  once  held,  and  may  change  their  laws  and  institu 
tions  to  suit  themselves.  Nothing  then  is  unchangeable  but 
the  inherent  and  unalienable  rights  of  men.  (To  John  Cart- 
wright,  1824.  C.  VII.,  359.) 

LAWYERS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND. — But  was  there  ever  a  profound 
common  lawyer  known  in  any  of  the  Eastern  States?  There 
never  was,  nor  never  can  be  one  from  those  States.  The  basis 
of  their  law  is  neither  common  nor  civil;  it  is  an  original,  if 
any  compound  can  so  be  called.  Its  foundation  seems  to  have 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  295 

been  laid  in  the  spirit  and  principles  of  Jewish  law,  incorporated 
with  some  words  and  phrases  of  common  law,  and  an  abund 
ance  of  notions  of  their  own.  This  makes  an  amalgam  siti 
generis,  and  it  is  well  known  that  a  man,  first  and  thoroughly 
initiated  into  the  principles  of  one  system  of  law,  can  never 
become  pure  and  sound  in  any  other.  Lord  Mansfield  was  a 
splendid  proof  of  this.  Therefore,  I  say,  there  never  was,  nor 
can  be  a  profound  common  lawyer  from  those  States.  (To  the 
Attorney  General  of  the  United  States,  1810.  C.  V.,  550.) 

LEGISLATURES. — The  executive  in  our  governments  is  not  the 
sole,  it  is  scarcely  the  principal  object  of  my  jealousy.  The 
tyranny  of  the  Legislature  is  the  most  formidable  dread  at 
present,  and  will  be  for  long  years.  That  of  the  executive  will 
come  in  its,  turn,  but  it  will  be  at  a  remote  period.  (To  James 
Madison,  written  from  Paris,  1789.  F.  V.,  83.) 

THE  LEGISLATURE. — The  Legislature  should  never  show  itself 
in  a  matter  with  a  foreign  nation,  but  where  the  case  is  very 
serious  and  they  mean  to  commit  the  nation  in  its  issue.  (To 
James  Madison,  1791.  F.  V.,  392.) 

LEGISLATURES. — Our  legislatures  are  composed  of  two  houses, 
the  Senate  and  Representatives,  elected  in  different  modes,  and 
for  different  periods,  and  in  some  States,  with  a  qualified  veto 
in  the  executive  chief.  But  to  avoid  all  temptation  to  superior 
pretensions  of  the  one  over  the  other  house,  and  the  possibility 
of  either  erecting  itself  into  a  privileged  order,  might  it  not  be 
better  to  choose  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  mode,  a  body 
sufficiently  numerous  to  be  divided  by  lot  into  two  separate 
houses,  acting  as  independently  as  the  two  houses  in  England, 
or  in  our  governments,  and  to  shuffle  their  names  together  and 
redistribute  them  by  lot,  once  a  week,  or  a  fortnight?  This 
would  equally  give  the  benefit  of  time  and  separate  deliberation, 
guard  against  an  absolute  passage  by  acclamation,  derange 
cabals,  intrigues,  and  the  count  of  noses,  disarm  the  ascendency 
which  a  popular  demagogue  might  at  any  time  obtain  over 
either  house,  and  render  impressible  all  disputes  between  the 
two  houses,  which  often  form  such  obstacles  to  business.  (To 
M.  Coray,  1823.  C.  VII.,  321.) 


296  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

LIBELS. — I  had  no  conception  there  were  persons  enough  to 
support  a  paper  whose  stomachs  could  bear  such  aliment  as  the 
enclosed  papers  contain.  They  are  far  beyond  even  the  Wash 
ington  Federalists.  To  punish,  however,  is  impracticable  until 
the  body  of  the  people  from  whom  injuries  are  to  be  taken  get 
their  minds  to  rights;  and  even  then  I  doubt  its  expediency. 
While  a  full  range  is  proper  for  actions  by  individuals,  either 
private  or  public,  for  slanders  affecting  them,  I  would  wish 
much  to  see  the  experiment  tried  of  getting  along  without 
public  prosecutions  for  libels.  I  believe  we  can  do  it.  Patience 
and  well  doing,  instead  of  punishment,  if  it  can  be  found 
sufficiently  efficacious,  would  be  a  happy  change  in  the  instru- 
nients  of  government.  (To  Levi  Lincoln,  1802.  F.  VIIL,  139.) 
'••-.  LIBERTY. — The  God  who  gave  us  life  gave  us  liberty  at  the? 
same  time;  the  hand  of  force  may  destroy,  but  cannot  disjoin^ 
them.  (From  "A  Summary  View,"  1774.  F.  I.,  447.)  ^ 

LIBERTY. — To  oppose  his  (George  III.)  arms  we  also  have 
taken  up  arms.  We  should  be  wanting  to  ourselves,  we  should 
be  perfidious  to  posterity,  we  should  be  unworthy  that  free  an 
cestry  from  which  we  derive  our  descent,  should  we  submit 
with  folded  arms  to  military  butchery  and  depredation,  to 
gratify  the  lordly  ambition  or  to  sate  the  avarice  of  a  British 
ministry.  We  do  then  most  solemnly  before  God  and  the  world 
declare  that,  regardless  of  every  consequence,  at  the  risk  of 
every  distress,  the  arms  we  have  been  compelled  to<  assume 
we  will  use  with  the  perseverance,  exerting  to  their  utmost 
energies  all  these  powers  which  our  Creator  hath  given  us,  tc? 
preserve  that  liberty  which  He  committed  to  us  in  sacred  deposit 
and  to  protect  from  every  hostile  land  our  lives  and  our  prop 
erties.  (From  a  declaration  submitted  to  Congress  declaratory 
of  the  reasons  why  Americans  had  taken  up  arms,  1775.  F.  I., 
474-) 

""-^.XIBERTY. — A  government  wherein  the  will  of  every  one  has 
a  just  influence,  *  *  *  enjoys  a  precious  degree  of  liberty 
and  happiness.  It  has  its  evils  too;  the  principal  of  which  is 
the  turbulence  to  which  it  is  subject.  Malo  periculosam  liber- 
taicrn  quam  quietam  servitutem.  *  *  *  I  hold  it  that  a 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  297 

little  rebellion  now  and  then  is  a  good  thing-,  and  as  necessary 
in  the  political  world  as  storms  in  the  physical.  Unsuccessful 
rebellions  indeed  generally  establish  the  encroachments  on  the 
rights  of  the  people  which  have  produced  them.  An  observa 
tion  of  this  truth  should  render  honest  Republican  governors 
so  mild  in  their  punishment  of  rebellion,  as  not  to  discourage 
them  too  much.  It  is  a  medicine  necessary  for  the  sound  health 
of  government.  (To  James  Madison,  1787.  F.  IV.,  362.) 

LIBERTY. — The  ground  of  liberty  is  to  be  gained  by  inches; 
we  must  be  contented  to  secure  what  we  can  get  from  time  to 
time,  and  eternally  press  forward  for  what  is  yet  to  get.  It 
takes  time  to  persuade  men  to  do  even  what  is  for  their  own 
good.  (To  Rev.  Charles  Clay,  1790.  F.  V.,  142.) 

LIBERTY, — This  ball  of  liberty  is  now  so  well  in  motion  that 
it  will  roll  round  the  globe.  At  least  the  enlightened  part  of 
it,  for  light  and  liberty  go  together.  It  is  our  glory  that  we 
first  put  it  into  motion,  and  our  happiness  that,  being  foremost, 
we  had  no  bad  examples  to  follow.  (To  Tench  Coxe,  1795. 
F.  VII.,  22.) 

LIBRARY. — Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly,  that  on  the 
first  day  of  January,  in  every  year,  there  shall  be  paid  out  of 
the  treasury  the  sum  of  two  thousand  pounds,  to  be  laid  out  in 
such  books  and  maps  as  may  be  proper  to  be  preserved  in  a 
public  library,  and  in  defraying  the  expenses  necessary  for  the 
care  and  preservation  thereof;  which  library  shall  be  established 
at  the  town  of  Richmond.  (From  a  bill  for  establishing  a 
Public  Library,  1779.  F.  II.,  236.) 

LIBRARIES. — I  have  often  thought  that  nothing  would  do  more 
extensive  good  at  small  expense  than  the  establishment  of  a 
small  circulating  library  in  every  county,  to  consist  of  a  few 
well-chosen  books  to  be  lent  to  the  people  of  the  county,  under 
such  regulations  as  would  secure  their  safe  return  in  due  time. 
These  should  be  such  as  would  give  them  a  general  view  of 
other  history,  and  a  particular  view  of  that  of  their  own 
country,  a  tolerable  knowledge  of  geography,  the  elements  of 
natural  philosophy,  of  agriculture  and  mechanics.  (To  Mr. 
John  Wythe,  1809.  C.  V.,  448.) 


298  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

LOUISIANA. — The  cession  of  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas  by 
Spain  to  France  works  most  sorely  on  the  United  States.  On 
this  subject  the  Secretary  of  State  has  written  to  you  fully. 
Yet  I  cannot  forbear  recurring  to  it  personally,  so  deep  is  the 
impression  it  makes  in  my  mind.  It  completely  reverses  all  the 
political  relations  of  the  United  States  and  will  form  a  new 
epoch  in  our  political  course.  Of  all  nations  of  any  considera 
tion  France  is  the  one  which  hitherto  has  offered  the  fewest 
points  on  which  we  could  have  any  conflict  of  right,  and  the 
most  points  of  a  communion  of  interests.  From  these  causes 
we  have  ever  looked  to  her  as  our  natural  friend,  as  one  with 
which  we  never  have  occasion  of  difference.  Her  growth  there 
fore  we  viewed  as  our  own,  her  misfortunes  ours.  There  is  on 
the  globe  one  single  spot,  the  possessor  of  which  is  our  natural 
and  habitual  enemy.  It  is  New  Orleans,  through  which  the 
produce  of  three-eighths  of  our  territory  must  pass  to  market, 
and  from  its  fertility  it  will  ere  long  yield  more  than  half  of  our 
whole  produce  and  contain  more  than  half  our  inhabitants. 
France  placing  herself  in  that  door  assumes  to  us  the  attitude 
of  defiance.  Spain  might  have  retained  it  quietly  for  years. 
Her  pacific  dispositions,  her  feeble  state,  would  induce  her  to 
increase  our  facilities  there,  so  that  her  possession  of  the  place 
would  be  hardly  felt  by  us,  and  it  would  not  perhaps  be  very 
long  before  some  circumstance  might  arise  which  might  make 
the  cession  of  it  to  us  the  price  of  something  of  more  worth  to 
her.  Not  so  can  it  ever  be  in  the  hands  of  France.  The  im 
petuosity  of  her  temper,  the  energy  and  restlessness  of  her  char 
acter,  placed  in  a  point  of  eternal  friction  with  us,  and  our 
character,  which,  though  quiet,  and  loving  peace  and  the  pur 
suit  of  wealth,  is  high-minded,  despising  wealth  in  competition 
with  insult  or  injury,  enterprising  and  energetic  as  any  nation  on 
earth,  these  circumstances  render  it  impossible  that  France  and 
the  United  States  can  continue  long  friends  when  they  meet  in 
so  irritable  a  position.  They  as  well  as  we  must  be  blind  if 
they  do  not  see  this;  and  we  must  be  very  improvident  if  we 
do  not  begin  to  make  arrangements  on  that  hypothesis.  The 
day  that  France  takes  possession  of  New  Orleans  fixes  the 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  299 

sentence  which  is  to  restrain  her  forever  within  her  low-water 
mark.  It  seals  the  union  of  two  nations  who*  in  conjunction 
can  maintain  exclusive  possession  of  the  ocean.  From  that 
moment  we  must  marry  ourselves  to  the  British  fleet  and 
nation.  We  must  turn  all  our  attentions  to  a  maritime  force, 
for  which  our  resources  place  us  on  very  high  grounds:  and 
having  formed  and  cemented  together  a  power  which  may 
render  reinforcement  of  her  settlements  here  impossible  to 
France,  make  the  first  cannon,  which  shall  be  fired  in  Europe 
the  signal  for  tearing  up  any  settlement  she  may  have  made, 
and  for  holding  the  two  continents  of  America  in  sequestration 
for  the  common  purposes  of  the  united  British  and  American 
nations.  This  is  not  a  state  of  things  we  seek  or  desire.  It  is 
one  which  this  measure,  if  adopted  by  France,  forces  on  us,  as 
necessarily  as  any  other  cause,  by  the  laws  of  nature,  brings  on 
its  necessary  effect.  It  is  not  from  a  fear  of  France  that  we 
deprecate  this  measure  proposed  by  her.  For  however  greater 
her  force  is  than  ours  compared  in  the  abstract,  it  is  nothing  in 
comparison  of  ours  \vhen  to  be  exerted  on  our  soil.  But  it  is 
from  sincere  love  of  peace,  and  a  firm  persuasion  that  bound 
to  France  by  the  interests  and  the  strong  sympathies  still  ex 
isting  in  the  minds  of  our  citizens,  and  holding  relative  positions 
which  ensure  their  continuance,  we  are  secure  of  a  long  course 
of  peace.  Whereas  the  change  of  friends,  which  will  be  rendered 
necessary  if  France  changes  that  position,  embarks  us  neces 
sarily  as  a  belligerent  power  in  the  first  war  with  Europe.  In 
that  case  France  will  hold  possession  of  New  Orleans  during  the 
interval  of  a  peace,  long  or  short,  at  the  end  of  which  it  will 
be  wrested  from  her.  Will  this  short-lived  possession  have  been 
an  equivalent  to  her  for  the  transfer  of  such  a  weight  into  the 
scale  of  her  enemy?  Will  not  the  amalgamation  of  a  young, 
thriving  nation  continue  to  that  enemy  the  health  and  force 
which  are  at  present  so  evidently  on  the  decline?  And  will  a 
few  years'  possession  of  New  Orleans  add  equally  to  the  strength 
of  France?  She  may  say  she  needs  Louisiana  for  the  supply  of 
her  West  Indies.  She  does  not  need  it  in  time  of  peace.  And  in 
war  she  could  not  depend  on  them  because  they  would  be  so 


300  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

easily  intercepted.  I  should  suppose  that  all  these  considera 
tions  might  in  some  proper  form  be  brought  into  view  of  the 
government  of  France.  Tho'  stated  by  us,  it  ought  not  to  give 
offense;  because  we  do  not  bring  them  forward  as  a  menace, 
but  as  consequences  not  controllable  by  us,  but  inevitable  from 
the  course  of  things.  We  mention  them  not  as  things  which 
we  desire  by  any  means,  but  as  things  we  deprecate;  and  we 
beseech  a  friend  to  look  forward  and  to  prevent  them  for  our 
common  interests. 

If  France  considers  Louisiana,  however,  as  indispensable  for 
her  views,  she  might  perhaps  be  willing  to  look  about  for  ar 
rangements  which  might  reconcile  it  to  our  interests.  If  any 
thing  could  do  this  it  would  be  the  ceding  to  us  the  island  of 
New  Orleans  and  the  Floridas.  This  would  certainly  in  a  great 
degree  remove  the  causes  of  jarring  and  irritation  between  us, 
and  perhaps  for  such  a  length  of  time  as  might  produce  other 
means  of  making  the  measure  permanently  conciliatory  to  our 
interests  and  friendships.  It  would  at  any  rate  relieve  us  from 
the  necessity  of  taking  immediate  measures  for  countervailing 
such  an  operation  by  arrangements  in  another  quarter.  Still 
we  should  consider  New  Orleans  and  the  Floridas  as  equivalent 
for  the  risk  of  a  quarrel  with  France  produced  by  her  vicinage. 
I  have  no  doubt  you  have  urged  these  considerations  on  every 
proper  occasion  with  the  government  where  you  are.  They  are 
such  as  must  have  effect  if  you  can  find  the  means  of  producing 
thorough  reflection  on  them  by  that  government.  (To  the 
United  States  Minister  to  France,  1802.  F.  VIII.,  144-146.) 

LOUISIANA. — On  further  consideration  as  to  the  amendment 
to  our  Constitution  respecting  Louisiana,  I  have  thought  it 
better  instead  of  enumerating  the  powers  which  Congress  may 
exercise,  to  give  them  the  same  powers  as  to  other  portions 
of  the  Union  generally,  and  to  enumerate  the  special  exceptions 
in  some  such  form  as  the  following:  "Louisiana,  as  ceded  by 
France  to  the  United  States,  is  made  a  part  of  the  United  States, 
its  white  inhabitants  shall  be  citizens  and  stand  as  to  their  rights 
and  obligations  on  the  same  footing  with  other  citizens  of  the 
United  States  in  analogous  situations.  *  *  *  Florida,  also, 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  301 

whensoever  it  may  be  rightfully  obtained,  shall  become  a  part 
of  the  United  States,  its  white  inhabitants  shall  thereupon  be 
citizens  and  shall  stand  as  to  their  rights  and  obligations  on 
the  same  footing  of  others  citizens  of  the  United  States  in 
analogous  situations." 

I  quote  this  for  your  consideration,  observing  that  the  less 
is  said  about  any  constitutional  difficulty  the  better,  and  that 
it  will  be  desirable  for  Congress  to  do  what  is  necessary,  in 
silence.  (To  Levi  Lincoln,  1803.  C.  IV.,  504.) 

LOUISIANA. — With  the  wisdom  of  Congress  it  will  rest  to  take 
those  ulterior  measures  which  may  be  necessary  for  the  imme 
diate  occupation  and  temporary  government  of  the  country 
(Louisiana);  for  its  incorporation  into  our  Union;  for  rendering 
the  change  of  government  a  blessing  to  our  newly  adopted 
brethren;  for  securing  to  them  the  rights  of  conscience  and  of 
property;  for  confirming  to  the  Indian  inhabitants  their  occu 
pancy  and  self-government,  establishing  friendly  and  commercial 
relations  with  them  and  for  ascertaining  the  geography  of  the 
country  acquired.  (From  Third  Annual  Message  to  Congress, 
1803.  C.  VIII,  24.) 

MADISON. — You  probably  do  not  know  Mr.  Madison  person 
ally,  or  at  least  intimately,  as  I  do.  I  have  known  him  from 
1779,  when  he  first  came  into  the  public  councils,  and  from 
three  and  thirty  years'  trial  I  can  say  conscientiously  that  I  do 
not  know  in  the  world  a  man  of  purer  integrity,  more  dispas 
sionate,  disinterested  and  devoted  to  genuine  republicanism; 
nor  could  I,  in  the  whole  scope  of  America  and  Europe,  point 
out  an  abler  head.  (To  T.  C.  Flourney,  1812.  C.  VI.,  82.) 

MANUFACTURER. — We  must  now  place  the  manufacturer  by 
the  side  of  the  agriculturist.  The  former  question  is  suppressed 
or  assumes  a  new  form.  Shall  we  make  our  own  comforts,  or  go 
without  them,  at  the  will  of  a  foreign  nation  ?  He,  therefore,  who 
is  against  domestic  manufacture,  must  be  for  reducing  us  either 
to  dependence  on  that  foreign  nation,  or  to  be  clothed  in  skins, 
and  to  live  like  wild  beasts  in  dens  and  caverns.  I  am  not  one 
of  these;  experience  has  taught  me  that  manufactures  are  now 
as  necessary  to  our  independence  as  to  our  comfort ;  and  if  those 


302  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

who  quote  me  as  of  a  different  opinion,  will  keep  pace  with  me 
in  purchasing  nothing  foreign  where  an  equivalent  of  domestic 
fabric  can  be  obtained,  without  regard  to  difference  of  price,  it 
will  not  be  our  fault  if  we  do  not  soon  have  a  supply  at  home 
equal  to  our  demand,  and  wrest  that  weapon  of  distress  from  the 
hand  which  has  wielded  it.  (To  Benj.  Austin,  1816.  C.  VI., 
522.) 

MASSACHUSETTS. — Oh,  Massachusetts !  How  have  I  lamented 
the  degradation  of  your  apostasy!  Massachusetts,  with  whom 
I  went  with  pride  in  1776,  whose  vote  was  my  vote  on  every 
public  question,  and  whose  principles  were  then  the  standard 
of  whatever  was  free  or  fearless.  But  she  was  then  under  the 
counsel  of  the  two  Adams;  while  Strong,  her  present  leader, 
was  promoting  petitions  for  submission  to  British  power  and 
British  usurpation.  While  under  her  present  counsels,  she  must 
be  content  with  nothing;  as  having  a  vote,  indeed,  to  be  con 
tented,  but  not  respected.  But  should  the  State  once  more 
buckle  on  her  Republican  harness,  we  shall  receive  her  again  as 
a  sister,  and  recollect  her  wanderings  among  the  crimes  of  the 
parricide  party,  which  would  have  basely  sold  what  their  fathers 
so  bravely  won  from  the  same  enemy.  Let  us  look  forward, 
then,  to  the  act  of  repentance,  which  by  dismissing  her  venal 
traitors,  shall  be  the  signal  of  return  to  the  bosom  and  to  the 
principles  of  her  brethren;  and  if  her  late  humiliation  can  just 
give  her  modesty  enough  to  suppose  that  her  Southern  brethren 
are  somewhat  on  a  par  with  her  in  wisdom,  in  information,  in 
patriotism,  in  bravery,  and  even  in  honesty,  although  not  in 
psalm  singing,  she  will  more  justly  estimate  her  own  relative 
momentum  in  the  Union.  With  her  ancient  principles,  she 
would  really  be  great,  if  she  did  not  think  herself  the  whole. 
(To  Gen.  Dearborne,  1815.  C.  VI.,  450.) 

MERCHANTS,  PRIESTS  AND  LAWYERS. — I  join  in  your  reproba 
tion  of  our  merchants,  priests  and  lawyers,  for  their  adherence  to 
England  and  monarchy,  in  preference  to  their  own  country  and 
its  constitutions.  But  merchants  have  no  country.  The  mere 
spot  they  stand  on  does  not  constitute  so  strong  an  attachment 
as  that  from  which  they  draw  their  gains.  In  every  country 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  303 

and  in  every  age,  the  priest  has  been  hostile  to  liberty.  He  is 
always  in  alliance  with  the  despot,  abetting  his  abuses  in  return 
for  protection  to  his  own.  It  is  easier  to  acquire  them,  and  to 
effect  this,  they  have  perverted  the  best  religion  ever  preached 
to  man  into  mystery  and  jargon,  unintelligible  to  all  mankind, 
and  therefore  the  safer  engine  for  their  purposes.  With  the 
lawyers  it  is  a  new  thing.  They  have,  in  the  mother  country, 
been  generally  the  primest  supporters  of  the  free  principles  of 
their  constitution.  But  there,  too,  they  have  changed.  I 
ascribe  much  of  this  to  the  substitution  of  Blackstone  for  my 
Lord  Coke,  as  an  elementary  work.  In  truth,  Blackstone  and 
Hume  have  made  tories  of  all  England,  and  are  making  tories 
of  those  young  Americans  whose  native  feelings  of  independence 
do  not  place  them  above  the  wily  sophistries  of  a  Hume  or  a 
Blackstone.  These  two  books,  but  especially  the  former,  have 
done  more  towards  the  suppression  of  the  liberties  of  man  than 
all  the  millions  of  men  in  the  armies  of  Bonaparte  and  the 
millions  of  human  lives  with  the  sacrifice  of  which  he  will  stand 
loaded  before  the  judgment  seat  of  his  Maker.  I  fear  nothing 
for  our  liberty  from  the  assaults  of  force;  but  I  have  seen  and 
felt  much,  and  fear  more  from  English  books,  English  preju 
dices,  English  manners,  and  the  apes,  the  dupes,  and  designs 
among  our  professional  crafts.  (To  H.  G.  Spafford,  1814.  C. 

VI.,  334-) 

METEMPSYCHOSIS. — It  is  not  for  me  to  pronounce  on  the 
hypothesis  you  present  of  a  transmigration  of  souls  from  one 
body  to  another  in  certain  cases.  The  laws  of  nature  have  with 
held  from  us  the  means  of  physical  knowledge  of  the  country 
of  spirits,  and  revelation  has,  for  reasons  unknown  to  us,  chosen 
to  leave  us  in  the  dark  as  we  were.  When  I  was  young  I  was 
fond  of  the  speculations  which  seemed  to  promise  some  insight 
into  that  hidden  country,  but  observing  at  length  that  they  left 
me  in  the  same  ignorance  which  they  found  me,  I  have  for 
many  years  ceased  to  read  or  think  concerning  them,  and  have 
reposed  my  head  on  that  pillow  of  ignorance  which  a  benevolent 
Creator  has  made  so  soft  for  us,  knowing  how  much  we  should 
be  forced  to  use  it.  I  have  thought  it  better  by  nourishing  the 


304  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

good  passion  and  destroying  the  bad,  to  merit  an  inheritance  in 
a  state  of  being  of  which  I  can  know  so  little,  and  to  trust  for  the 
future  to  him  who  has  been  so  good  for  the  past.  (To  Rev. 
Isaac  Story,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  107.) 

MILITIA. — Uncertain  as  we  must  ever  be  of  the  particular  point 
in  our  circumference  where  an  enemy  may  choose  to  invade 
us,  the  only  force  which  can  be  ready  at  every  point  and  com 
petent  to  oppose  them,  is  the  body  of  neighboring  citizens  as 
formed  into  a  militia,  On  these,  collected  from  the  parts  most 
convenient,  in  numbers  proportioned  to  the  invading  foe,  it  is 
best  to  rely,  not  only  to  meet  the  first  attack,  but  if  it  threatens 
to  be  permanent,  to  maintain  the  defence  until  regulars  may 
be  engaged  to  relieve  them.  These  considerations  render  it 
important  that  we  should  at  every  session  continue  to  amend 
the  defects  which  from  time  to  time  show  themselves  in  the 
laws  for  regulating  the  militia,  until  they  are  sufficiently  perfect. 
Nor  should  we  now  or  at  any  time  separate,  until  we  can  say 
we  have  done  everything  for  the  militia  which  we  could  do 
wrere  an  enemy  at  our  door.  (From  the  First  Annual  Message, 
1801.  F.  VIII.,  121.) 

MINISTERS. — Every  foreign  agent  depends  on  the  double  will 
of  the  two  governments,  of  that  which  sends  him,  and  of  that 
which  is  to  permit  the  exercise  of  his  functions  within  their 
territory;  and  when  either  of  these  wills  is  refused  or  withdrawn, 
his  authority  to  act  within  that  territory  becomes  incomplete. 
(Address  to  the  French  Minister,  Genet,  1793.  F.  VI.,  465.) 

MISSISSIPPI. — I  never  had  any  interest  westward  of  the  Alle- 
ghany  and  I  never  will  have  any.  But  I  have  had  great  oppor 
tunities  of  knowing  the  character  of  the  people  who  inhabit  that 
country,  and  I  will  venture  to  say  that  the  act  which  abandons 
the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  is  an  act  of  separation  between 
the  Eastern  and  Western  country.  It  is  a  relinquishment  of 
five  parts  out  of  eight  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  an 
abandonment  of  the  fairest  subjects  for  the  payment  of  our 
public  debts,  and  the  chaining  those  debts  on  our  own  necks 
in  perpetuum.  If  they  declare  themselves  a  separate  people, 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  305 

we  are  incapable  of  a  single  effort  to  retain  them.  (To  James 
Madison,  written  in  Paris,  1787.  F.  IV.,  364.) 

MISSISSIPPI. — We  have  a  right  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mis 
sissippi — first,  by  nature;  second,  by  treaty.  It  is  necessary  to 
us.  More  than  half  the  territory  of  the  United  States  is  on 
the  waters  of  that  river.  Two  hundred  thousand  of  our  citizens 
are  settled  on  them,  of  whom  forty  thousand  bear  arms.  These 
have  no  other  outlet  for  their  tobacco,  rice,  corn,  hemp,  house 
timber,  ship  timber.  We  have  hitherto  respected  the  decision 
of  Spain,  because  we  wish  peace; — because  our  western  citizens 
have  had  vent  at  home  for  their  productions.  A  surplus  of 
productions  begins  now  to  demand  foreign  markets.  When- 
ever  they  shall  say,  "We  cannot,  we  will  not,  be  longer  shut  up," 
the  United  States  will  be  reduced  to  the  following  dilemma: 
First,  to  force  them  to  acquiescence;  second,  to  separate  from 
them,  rather  than  to  take  part  in  a  war  against  Spain;  third, 
to  preserve  them  in  our  Union  by  joining  them  in  the  war. 
*  *  *  The  third  is  the  alternative  we  must  adopt.  (From 
instructions  to  the  United  States  Charge  D'Affaires  in  Spain, 
1790.  F.  V.,  225.) 

MISSOURI  QUESTION. — The  Missouri  is  not  a  moral  question, 
but  one  merely  of  power.  Its  object  is  to  raise  a  geographical 
principle  for  the  choice  of  a  President,  and  the  noise  will  be 
kept  up  until  that  is  effected.  All  know  that  permitting  the 
slaves  of  the  South  to  spread  into  the  West  will  not  add  one 
being  to  that  unfortunate  condition,  that  it  will  increase  the 
happiness  of  those  existing,  and  by  spreading  them  over  a 
larger  surface,  will  dilute  the  evil  everywhere,  and  facilitate 
the  means  of  getting  finally  rid  of  it,  an  event  more  anxiously 
wished  by  those  on  whom  it  presses  than  by  the  noisy  pre 
tenders  to  exclusive  humanity.  In  the  meantime,  it  is  a  ladder 
for  rivals  climbing  to  power.  (To  M.  de  La  Fayette,  1820. 
C.  VII.,  194-) 

MONARCHY. — With  respect  to  the  State  of  Virginia,  the  people 
seem  to  have  laid  aside  the  monarchial,  and  taken  up  the  Repub 
lican  government,  with  as  much  ease  as  would  have  attended 
their  throwing  off  an  old  and  putting  on  a  new  suit  of  clothes. 


306  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

Not  a  single  throe  has  attended  this  important  transformation. 
A  half-dozen  aristocratical  gentlemen,  agonizing  under  the  loss 
of  pre-eminence,  have  sometimes  ventured  their  sarcasms  on 
our  political  metamorphosis.  They  have  been  thought  fitter 
objects  of  pity,  than  of  punishment.  (To  Ben.  Franklin,  1777. 
F.  II.,  132.)  ' 

MONARCHY. — I  look  up  with  you  to  the  Federal  convention 
for  an  amendment  of  our  Federal  affairs.  Yet  I  do  not  view 
them  in  so  disadvantageous  a  light  at  present  as  some  do.  And 
above  all  things  I  am  astonished  at  some  people's  considering 
a  kingly  government  as  a  refuge.  *  *  *  If  all  the  evils  which 
can  arise  among  us  from  the  Republican  form  of  our  government 
from  this  day  to  the  day  of  judgment  could  be  put  into  a  scale 
against  what  this  country  suffers  from  its  monarchial  form  in  a 
week,  or  England  in  a  month,  the  latter  would  preponderate. 
Consider  the  contents  of  the  red  book  in  England  or  the 
Almanac  Royale  of  France,  and  say  what  a  people  gain  by 
monarchy.  No  race  of  kings  has  ever  presented  above  one 
man  of  common  sense  in  twenty  generations.  (To  Benjamin 
Hawkings,  written  from  Paris,  1787.  F.  IV.,  426.) 

MONARCHY. — The  perpetual  re-eligibility  of  the  President  I 
fear  will  make  an  office  for  life  and  then  hereditary.  I  was 
much  an  enemy  to  monarchy  before  I  came  to  Europe.  I  am 
ten  thousand  times  more  so  since  I  have  seen  what  they  are. 
There  is  scarcely  an  evil  known  in  these  countries  which  may 
not  be  traced  to  their  King  as  its  source,  nor  a  good  which 
is  not  derived  from  the  small  fibers  of  Republicanism  existing 
among  them.  I  can  further  say  with  safety  there  is  not  a 
crowned  head  in  Europe  whose  talents  or  merit  would  entitle 
him  to  be  elected  a  vestryman  by  the  people  of  any  parish  in 
America.  (To  George  Washington,  written  in  Paris,  1788. 
F.  V.,  8.) 

MONARCHY. — I  know  there  are  some  among  us  who  would 
now  establish  a  monarchy.  But  they  are  inconsiderable  in  num 
ber  and  weight  of  character.  The  rising  race  are  all  Republicans. 
We  were  educated  in  royalism;  no  wonder  if  some  of  us  retain 
that  idolatry  still.  Our  young  people  are  educated  in  Republi- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  307 

canism;  an  apostasy  from  that  to  royalism  is  unprecedented 
and  impossible.  (To  James  Madison  from  Paris,  1789.  F. 
V.,  83.) 

MONARCHY. — There  are  high  names  here  in  favor  of  sub 
verting  the  present  form  of  government  and  making  way  for 
a  king,  lords  and  commons,  Adams,  Jay,  Hamilton,  Knox. 
Many  of  the  Cincinnati.  The  second  says  nothing.  The  third 
is  open.  Both  are  dangerous.  They  pant  after  union  with 
England  as  the  power  which  is  to  support  their  projects,  and 
are  most  determined  Anti-Gallicans.  It  is  prognosticated  that 
our  Republic  is  to  end  with  the  President's  life.  But  I  believe 
they  will  find  themselves  all  head  and  no  body.  (To  William 
Short,  1791.  F.  V.,  362.) 

MONARCHY. — Would  you  believe  it  possible  that  in  this  coun 
try  there  should  be  high  and  important  characters  who  need 
your  lessons  in  Republicanism  and  who  do  not  heed  them?  It 
is  but  too  true  that  we  have  a  sect  preaching  up  and  panting 
after  an  English  constitution  of  kings,  lords,  and  commons, 
and  whose  heads  are  itching  for  crowns,  coronets  and  mitres. 
But  our  people,  very  good  friend,  are  firm  and  unanimous  in 
their  principles  of  Republicanism,  and  there  is  no  better  proof  of 
it  than  that  they  love  what  you  write  and  read  it  with  delight. 
(To  Thomas  Paine,  1792.  F.  VI,  87.) 

MONARCHY. — While  you  are  exterminating  the  monster  aris 
tocracy  and  pulling  out  the  teeth  and  fangs  of  its  associate 
monarchy,  a  contrary  tendency  is  discovered  in  some  here.  A 
sect  has  shown  itself  among  us,  who  declare  they  espoused 
our  new  Constitution  not  as  a  good  and  sufficient  thing  itself, 
but  only  as  a  step  to  an  English  constitution.  *  *  *  You 
will  wonder  to  be  told  that  it  is  from  the  Eastward  that  these 
champions  for  being  lords  and  commons,  come.  They  get 
some  important  associates  from  New  York.  *  *  *  Too 
many  of  those  stock-jobbers  or  king-jobbers  have  come  into  our 
Legislature,  or  rather  too'  many  of  our  Legislature  have  become 
stock-jobbers  and  king-jobbers.  (To  La  Fayette,  1792.  F. 
VI,  78.) 

MONARCHY. — The   aspect   of   our   politics   has   wonderfully 


308  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

changed  since  you  left  us.  In  place  of  that  noble  love  of  liberty 
and  Republican  government  which  carried  us  triumphantly 
through  the  war,  an  Anglican  monarchial  and  aristocratical 
party  has  sprung  up,  whose  avowed  object  is  to  draw  over  us 
the  substance  as  they  have  already  done  the  forms  of  the  British 
Government.  The  main  body  of  our  citizens,  however,  remain 
true  to  their  Republican  privileges;  the  whole  land's  interest  is 
Republican,  and  so  is  a  great  mass  of  talent.  Against  us  are 
the  Executive,  the  Judiciary,  twro  out  of  three  branches  of  the 
legislature,  all  the  officers  of  the  government,  all  who  want  to 
be  officers,  all  timid  men  who  prefer  the  calm  of  despotism  to 
the  boisterous  sea  of  liberty,  British  merchants  and  Americans 
trading  on  British  capitals,  speculators  and  holders  in  the  banks 
and  public  funds.  It  would  give  you  a  fever  were  I  to  name 
to  you  the  apostates  who*  have  gone  over  to  these  heresies,  men 
w?ho  were  Samsons  in  the  field  and  Solomons  in  the  council, 
but  who  have  had  their  heads  shorn  by  the  harlot  England. 
In  short,  we  are  likely  to  preserve  the  liberty  we  have  obtained 
only  by  unremitting  labors  and  perils.  But  we  shall  preserve 
it;  and  our  mass  of  weight  and  wealth  on  the  good  side  is 
so  great  as  to  leave  no  danger  that  force  will  ever  be  attempted 
against  us.  We  have  only  to  awake  and  snap  the  Lilliputian 
cords  with  which  they  have  been  entangling  us  during  the  first 
sleep  which  succeeded  our  labors.  (To  Philip  Mazzei,  1796. 
F.  VII.,  750 

MONARCHY. — A  second  class,  at  the  head  of  which  is  our 
quondam  colleague  (Hamilton),  are  ardent  for  the  introduction 
of  monarchy,  eager  for  armies,  making  more  noise  for  a  great 
naval  establishment  than  better  patriots  who  wish  it  on  a 
national  scale  only,  commensurate  to  our  wants  and  our  means. 
This  class  ought  to  be  tolerated  but  not  trusted.  (To  Henry 
Knox,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  36.) 

MONARCHY. — When  I  arrived  at  New  York  in  1790,  to  take 
a  part  in  the  administration,  being  fresh  from  the  French  revo 
lution,  while  in  its  first  and  pure  stage,  and  consequently  some 
what  whetted  up  in  my  Republican  principles,  I  found  a  state 
of  things,  in  the  general  society  of  the  place,  which  I  could  not 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  309 

have  supposed  possible.  Being  a  stranger  there,  I  was  feasted 
from  table  to  table,  at  large  set  dinners,  the  parties  generally 
from  twenty  to  thirty.  The  revolution  I  had  left,  and  we  had 
just  gone  through  in  the  recent  change  of  our  own  government, 
being  the  common  topics  of  conversation.  I  was  astonished 
to  find  the  general  prevalence  of  monarchial  sentiments,  inso 
much  that  in  maintaining  those  of  Republicanism,  I  had  always 
the  whole  company  on  my  hands,  never  scarcely  finding  among 
them  a  single  co-advocate  in  that  argument,  unless  some  old 
member  of  Congress  happened  to  be  present.  The  furthest 
that  any  one  would  go,  in  support  of  the  Republican  features  of 
our  newr  government,  would  be  to  say,  "The  present  Constitu 
tion  is  well  as  a  beginning,  and  may  be  allowed  a  fair  trial; 
but  it  is,  in  fact,  only  a  stepping  stone  to  something  better." 
Among  the  writers,  Denny,  the  editor  of  the  Portfolio,  who 
was  a  kind  of  oracle  with  them,  and  styled  the  Addison  of 
America,  openly  avowed  his  preference  of  monarchy  over  all 
other  forms  of  government,  prided  himself  on  the  avowal,  and 
maintained  it  by  argument  freely  and  without  reserve,  in  his 
publications.  I  do  not,  myself,  know  that  the  Essex  junto 
of  Boston  were  monarchists,  but  I  have  always  heard  it  so  said 
and  never  doubted.  *  *  *  Monarchy,  to  be  sure,  is  now 
defeated  and  they  wish  it  should  be  forgotten  that  it  was  ever 
advocated.  They  see  that  it  is  desperate,  and  treat  its  imputa 
tion  to  them  as  a  calumny;  and  I  verily  believe  that  none  of 
them  have  it  now  in  direct  aim.  Yet  the  spirit  is  not  done  away. 
The  same  party  takes  now  w7hat  they  deem  to  next  best  ground, 
the  consolidation  of  the  government;  the  giving  to  the  Federal 
member  of  the  government,  by  unlimited  constructions  of  the 
Constitution,  a  control  over  all  the  functions  of  the  States,  and 
the  concentration  of  all  power  ultimately  at  Washington.  (To 
William  Short,  1825.  C.  VII.,  390.) 

MONEY. — The  proportion  between    the  values  of  gold    and 
silver  is  a  mercantile  problem  altogether.    The  legal  proportion 
in  Spain  is  16  for  i;  in  England  15^  for  i;  in  France  15  for  i. 
*     *     *     Just  principles  will  lead  us  to  disregard  legal  propor 
tions  altogether;  to  enquire  into  the  market  price  of  gold  in  the 


THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

several  countries  with  which  we  shall  principally  be  connected  in 
commerce,  and  to  take  an  average  from  them.  Perhaps  we 
might  with  safety  have  to  proportion  somewhat  above  par  for 
gold,  considering  our  neighborhood  and  commerce  with  the 
sources  of  the  coins,  and  the  tendency  which  the  high  price  of 
gold  in  Spain  has,  to  draw  thither  all  that  of  their  mines,  leaving 
silver  principally  for  our  other  markets.  It  is  not  impossible 
that  15  for  i  may  be  found  an  eligible  proportion.  I  state  it, 
however,  as  a  conjecture  only.  (From  "Notes  on  the  Estab 
lishment  of  a  Monetary  Unit  and  of  a  coinage  for  the  United 
States,"  1784.  F.  III.,  452.) 

MONEY. — Resolved,  that  the  money  unit  of  these  States 
shall  be  equal  in  value  to  a  Spanish  milled  dollar  containing  so 
much  fine  silver  as  the  enquiry  before  directed  shall  show  to  be 
contained  on  an  average  in  dollars  of  the  several  dates  in  circu 
lation  with  us.  That  the  unit  shall  be  divided  into  fractions 
decimally  expressed.  That  there  shall  be  a  coin  of  silver  of 
the  value  of  an  unit,  one  other  of  the  same  metal  of  one-tenth 
of  an  unit,  one  other  of  copper  of  the  value  of  the  hundredth  of 
an  unit.  That  there  shall  be  a  coin  of  gold  of  the  value  of  ten 
units.  (From  a  draft  of  a  report  presented  to  Congress,  1784. 
F.  III.,  391.) 

MONEY. — It  would  be  best  that  our  medium  should  be  so 
proportioned  to  our  produce,  as  to  be  on  a  par  with  that  of 
the  countries  with  which  we  trade,  and  whose  medium  is  in  a 
sound  state;  that  specie  is  the  most  perfect  medium,  because 
it  will  preserve  its  own  level;  because  having  intrinsic  and 
universal  value,  it  can  never  die  in  our  hands,  and  it  is  the 
surest  resource  of  reliance  in  time  of  war;  the  trifling  economy 
of  paper,  as  a  cheaper  medium,  or  its  convenience  for  trans 
mission,  weighs  nothing  in  opposition  to  the  advantages  of 
the  precious  metals;  that  it  is  liable  to  be  abused,  has  been,  is, 
and  forever  will  be  abused  in  every  country  in  which  it  is  per 
mitted;  that  it  is  already  at  a  term  of  abuse  in  these  States, 
which  has  never  been  reached  by  any  other  nation,  France 
excepted,  whose  dreadful  catastrophe  should  be  a  warning 
against  the  instrument  which  produced  it;  that  we  are  already 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  311 

at  ten  or  twenty  times  the  due  quantity  of  medium ;  and  that  it  is  a 
palpable  falsehood  to  say  we  can  have  specie  for  our  paper  when 
ever  demanded.  Instead,  then,  of  yielding  to  the  cries  of  scarcity 
of  medium  set  up  by  speculation,  projectors  and  commercial  job 
bers,  no  endeavor  should  be  spared  to  begin  the  work  of  reduc 
ing  it  by  such  gradual  means  as  may  give  time  to  private  for 
tunes  to  preserve  their  poise,  and  settle  down  with  the  subsiding 
medium;  and  that,  for  this  purpose,  the  States  should  be  urged 
to  concede  to  the  general  government,  with  a  saving  of  char 
tered  rights,  the  exclusive  power  of  establishing  banks  of 
discount  for  paper.  (To  J.  W.  Eppes,  1813.  C.  VI.,  246.) 

MONEY. — I  should  say,  put  down  all  banks,  admit  none  but 
a  metallic  circulation,  that  will  take  its  proper  level  with  the 
like  circulation  in  other  countries,  and  then  our  manufacturers 
may  work  in  fair  competition  with  those  of  other  countries, 
and  the  import  duties  which  the  government  may  lay  for  the 
purposes  of  revenue  will  so  far  place  them  above  equal  com 
petition.  (To  Mr.  Pinckney,  1820.  C.  VII.,  180.) 

MONROE  DOCTRINE. — I  could  honestly,  therefore,  join  in  the 
declaration  proposed,  that  we  aim  not  at  the  acquisition  of  any 
of  those  possessions,  that  we  will  not  stand  in  the  way  of  any 
amicable  arrangement  between  them  and  the  mother  country; 
but  that  we  will  oppose,  with  all  our  means,  the  forcible  inter 
position  of  any  other  power,  as  auxiliary,  stipendiary,  or  under 
any  other  form  or  pretext,  and  most  especially,  their  transfer  to 
any  power  by  conquest,  cession  or  acquisition  in  any  other  \vay. 
(To  James  Monroe,  1823.  C.  VII.,  317.) 

MONTICELLO. — And  our  own  dear  Monticello,  where  has  nature 
spread  so  rich  a  mantle  under  the  eye?  Mountains,  forests, 
rocks,  rivers.  With  what  majesty  do  we  there  ride  above  the 
storms!  How  sublime  to  look  down  into  the  workhouse  of 
nature,  to  see  her  clouds,  hail,  snow,  rain,  thunder,  all  fabricated 
at  our  feet!  And  the  glorious  sun  when  rising  as  if  out  of  a 
distant  water,  just  gilding  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  and  giving 
life  to  all  nature.  (To  Mrs.  Maria  Cosway,  written  in  Paris, 
1786.  F.  IV.,  316.) 


312  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

^"MORALITY. — The  moral  sense  or  conscience  is  as  much  a  part 
of  man  as  his  leg  or  arm.  It  is  given  to  all  human  beings  in  a 
stronger  or  weaker  degree,  as  force  of  members  is  given  them 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree.  It  may  be  strengthened  by  exercise, 
as  may  any  particular  limb  of  the  body.  This  sense  is  submitted 
indeed  in  some  degree  to  the  guidance  of  reason;  but  it  is  a 
small  stock  which  is  required  for  this;  even  a  less  one  than 
what  we  call  common  sense.  State  a  moral  case  to  a  ploughman 
and  a  professor.  The  former  will  decide  it  as  well,  and  often 
better,  than  the  latter,  because  he  has  not  been  led  astray  by 
artificial  rules.  (To  Peter  Carr,  1787.  F.  IV.,  429.) 
**-  MORALITY. — Reading,  reflection  and  time  have  convinced  me 
that  the  interests  of  society  require  the  observation  of  those 
moral  precepts  only  in  which  all  religions  agree  (for  all  forbid 
us  to  murder,  steal,  plunder  or  bear  false  witness);  and  that  we 
should  not  intermeddle  with  the  particular  dogmas  in  which 
all  religions  differ,  and  which  are  totally  unconnected  with 
morality.  In  all  of  them  we  see  good  men,  and  as  many  in  one 
as  another.  The  varieties  in  the  structure  and  action  of  the 
human  mind  as  in  those  of  the  body,  are  the  work  of  our 
Creator,  against  which  it  cannot  be  a  religious  duty  to  erect 
the  standard  of  uniformity.  The  practice  of  morality  being 
necessary  for  the  wrell-being  of  society,  he  has  taken  care  to 
impress  its  precepts  so  indelibly  on  our  hearts  that  they  shall 
not  be  effaced  by  the  subtleties  of  our  brain.  We  all  agree  in 
the  obligation  of  the  moral  precepts  of  Jesus,  and  nowhere 
will  they  be  found  delivered  in  greater  purity  than  in  his  dis 
courses.  (To  James  Fishback,  1809,  C.  V.,  471.) 
^  MORALITY. — The  answer  is  that  nature  has  constituted  utility 
to  man  the  standard  and  best  of  virtues.  Men  living  in  different 
countries,  under  different  circumstances,  different  habits  and 
regimens,  may  have  different  utilities;  the  same  act,  therefore, 
may  be  useful,  and  consequently  virtuous  in  one  country  which 
is  injurious  and  vicious  in  another  differently  circumstanced.  I 
sincerely,  then,  believe  with  you  in  the  general  existence  of  a 
moral  instinct.  I  think  it  is  the  brightest  gem  with  which  the 
human  character  is  studded,  and  the  want  of  it  as  more  degrad- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  313 

ing  than  the  most  hideous  of  the  bodily  deformities.  (To 
Thomas  Law,  1814.  C.  VI.,  351.) 

^  MORALS. — Morals  were  too  essential  to  the  happiness  of  man 
kind  to  be  risked  on  the  uncertain  combination  of  the  head. 
Nature  laid  their  foundation,  therefore,  in  sentiment,  not  in 
science.  That  she  gave  to  all  as  necessary  to  all;  this  to  a  few 
only,  as  sufficing  for  a  few.  *  *  *  A  few  facts  will  suffice 
to  prove  that  nature  has  not  organized  reason  for  our  moral 
direction.  *  *  *  If  our  country,  when  pressed  with  wrongs 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  had  been  governed  by  its  heads 
instead  of  its  hearts,  where  should  we  have  been  now?  Hanging 
on  a  gallows  as  high  as  Haman's.  The  heads  began  to  calculate 
and  compare  numbers;  the  hearts  threw  up  a  few  pulsations  of 
their  warmest  blood;  they  supplied  enthusiasm  against  wealth 
and  numbers;  they  put  their  existence  to  the  hazard  when  the 
hazard  seemed  against  us,  and  they  saved  the  country;  justifying 
the  ways  of  Providence,  whose  precept  is  to  always  do  what  is 
right  and  leave  the  issue  to<  him.  (To  Mrs.  Maria  Cosway, 
written  in  Paris,  1782.  F.  IV.,  320.) 

MORRIS,  GOUVERNEUR. — Incident  to  these,  only  one  circum 
stance  has  perhaps  not  reached  you:  the  opposition  to  that  of 
Gouverneur  Morris  upon  the  following  principles:  First,  his 
general  character,  being  such  that  we  would  not  confide  in  it; 
second,  his  known  attachment  to  monarchy  and  contempt  of 
Republican  government;  third,  his  present  employment  abroad 
being  a  news  vender  of  back  lands  and  certificates.  (To  Archi 
bald  Stuart,  1791.  F.  V.,  454.) 

Music. — If  there  is  a  gratification  which  I  envy  any  people 
in  this  world  it  is  to  your  country  its  music.  This  is  the  favorite 
passion  of  my  soul  and  fortune  has  cast  my  lot  in  a  country 
where  it  is  in  a  state  of  deplorable  barbarism.  (To  a  friend  in 
Europe,  1778.  F.  II.,  158.) 

NAMES. — I  agree  with  you  entirely  in  condemning  the  mania 
of  giving  names  to  objects  of  any  kind  after  persons  still  living. 
Death  alone  can  seal  the  title  of  any  man  to  this  honor  by 
putting  it  out  of  his  power  to  forfeit  it.  (To  Benjamin  Rush, 
1800.  F.  VII.,  460.) 


314  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

^"NATIONAL  GOVERNMENT. — It  is  a  singular  phenomenon  that 
while  our  State  governments  are  the  very  best  in  the  world, 
without  exception  or  comparison,  our  general  government  has 
in  the  rapid  course  of  nine  or  ten  years  become  more  arbitrary 
and  has  swallowed  up  more  of  the  public  liberty  than  even  that 
of.  England.  (To  John  Taylor,  1798.  F.  VII.,  311.) 

NATIONAL  UNIVERSITY. — Education  is  here  placed  among  the 
articles  of  public  care,  not  that  it  would  be  proposed  to  take  its 
ordinary  branches  out  of  the  hands  of  private  enterprise,  which 
manages  so  much  better  all  the  concerns  to  which  it  is  equal; 
but  a  public  institution  can  only  supply  those  sciences  which, 
though  rarely  called  for,  are  yet  necessary  to  complete  the 
circle,  all  the  parts  of  which  contribute  to  the  improvement  of 
the  country,  and  some  of  them  to  its  preservation.  The  subject 
is  now  proposed  for  the  consideration  of  Congress,  because,  if 
approved,  by  the  time  the  State  Legislature  shall  have  delib 
erated  on  this  extension  of  the  federal  trusts,  and  the  laws 
shall  be  passed,  and  other  arrangements  made  for  their  execu 
tion,  the  necessary  funds  will  be  on  hand  and  without  employ 
ment.  I  suppose  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  by  consent 
of  the  States,  necessary,  because  the  objects  now  recommended 
are  not  among  the  enumerated  in  the  Constitution,  and  to  which 
it  permits  the  public  moneys  to  be  applied. 

The  present  consideration  of  a  national  establishment  for 
education,  particularly,  is  rendered  proper  by  this  circumstance 
also,  that  if  Congress,  approving  the  proposition,  shall  yet  think 
it  more  eligible  to  found  it  on  donation  of  lands,  they  have  it 
now  in  their  power  to  endow  it  with  those  which  will  be  among 
the  earliest  to  produce  the  necessary  income.  This  foundation 
would  have  the  advantage  of  being  independent  of  war,  which 
may  suspend  other  improvements  by  requiring  for  its  own  pur 
poses  the  resources  destined  for  them.  (Sixth  Annual  Message, 
1806.  F.  VIII.,  494.) 

NATURALIZATION. — All  persons  who  by  their  own  oath  or  affir 
mation,  or  by  other  testimony  shall  give  satisfactory  proof  to 
any  court  of  record  in  this  Colony  that  they  propose  to  reside 
in  the  same  seven  years  at  the  least,  and  who  shall  subscribe 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  315 

to  the  fundamental  laws,  shall  be  considered  as  residents  and 
entitled  to  all  the  rights  of  persons  natural  born.  (From  a 
proposed  Constitution  for  Virginia,  1776.  F.  II.,  26.) 

NATURALIZATION. — I  cannot  omit  recommending  a  revisal  of 
the  laws  on  the  subject  of  naturalization.  Considering  the  ordi 
nary  chances  of  human  life,  a  denial  of  citizenship  under  a  resi 
dence  of  fourteen  years  is  a  denial  to  a  great  proportion  of  those 
who  ask  it,  and  controls  a  policy  pursued  from  their  first  settle 
ment  by  many  of  these  States ;  and  still  believed  of  consequence 
to  their  prosperity.  And  shall  we  refuse  the  unhappy  fugitives" 
from  distress  that  hospitality  which  the  savages  of  the  wilderness 
extended  to  our  fathers  arriving  in  this  land?  Shall  oppressed 
humanity  find  no  asylum  on  this  globe?  The  Constitution, 
indeed,  has  wisely  provided  that,  for  admission  to  certain  offices 
of  important  trust,  a  residence  shall  be  required  sufficient  to 
develop  character  and  design.  But  might  not  the  general 
character  and  capabilities  of  a  citizen  be  safely  communicated 
to  every  one  manifesting  a  bona  fide  purpose  of  embarking  his 
life  and  fortunes  permanently  with  us?  With  restrictions,  per^ 
haps,  to  guard  against  the  fraudulent  usurpation  of  our  flag;  an 
abuse  which  brings  so  much  embarrassment  and  loss  on  the 
genuine  citizen;  and  so  much  danger  to  the  nation  of  being  in 
volved  in  war,  that-  no  endeavor  should  be  spared  to  detect  and 
suppress  it.  (First  Annual  Message,  1801.  F.  VIII. ,  124.) 

NAVIGATION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. — We  cannot  omit  this  occa 
sion  of  urging  on  the  Court  of  Madrid  the  necessity  of  hastening 
a  final  acknowledgment  of  our  right  to  navigate  the  Mississippi ; 
a  right  which  has  long  been  suspended  in  exercise,  with  extreme 
inconvenience  on  our  part  merely  with  a  desire  of  reconciling 
Spain  to  what  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  relinquish.     (To  U.  S. 
Charge  D' Affaires  in  Spain,  1791.    F.  V.,  298.) 
^NAVIGATION. — If  we  appeal  to  the  law  of  nature  and  nations'" 
as  we  feel  it  written  in  the  heart  of  man,  what  sentiment  is 
written  in  deeper  characters  than  that  the  ocean  is  free  to  all 
men,  and  the  rivers  to  all  their  inhabitants?     Is  there  a  man_ 
savage  or  civilized,  unbiased  by  habit,  who  does  not  feel  and 
attest  this  tribute?    Accordingly  in  all  tracts  of  country  united 


316  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

under  the  same  political  society,  we  find  this  natural  right  uni 
versally  acknowledged  and  protected  by  laying  the  navigable 
rivers  open  to  all  their  inhabitants.  (From  a  report  on  Negotia 
tion  with  Spain,  1792.  F.  V.,  468.) 

NAVIGATION. — Our  navigation  involves  still  higher  considera 
tions.  As  a  branch  of  industry,  it  is  valuable,  but  as  a  resource 
of  defense  essential.  Its  value  as  a  branch  of  industry  is  en 
hanced  by  the  dependence  of  so  many  other  branches  on  it. 
In  times  of  general  peace  it  multiplies  competitors  for  employ 
ment  in  transportation,  and  so  keeps  that  at  its  proper  level; 
and  in  times  of  war,  that  is  to  say,  when  those  nations  who  may 
be  our  principal  carriers,  shall  be  at  war  with  each  other,  if  we 
have  not  within  ourselves  the  means  of  transportation,  our 
produce  must  be  exported  in  belligerent  vessels,  at  the  increased 
expense  of  war-freight  and  insurance,  and  the  articles  which 
will  not  bear  that  must  perish  on  our  hands. 

But  it  is  as  a  source  of  defense  that  our  navigation  will  admit 
neither  negligence  nor  forbearance.  The  position  and  circum 
stances  of  the  United  States  leave  them  nothing  to  fear  on  their 
land-board,  and  nothing  to  desire  beyond  their  present  rights. 
But  on  their  sea-board  they  are  open  to  injury,  and  they  have 
there,  too,  a  commerce  which  must  be  protected.  This  can 
only  be  done  by  possessing  a  respectable  body  of  citizen  seamen, 
and  of  artists  and  establishments  in  readiness  for  ship-building. 
(From  a  report  on  the  Commerce  of  the  United  States,  1793. 
F.  VI.,  480.) 

NAVY. — We  have  two  plans  to  pursue.  The  one  to  carry 
nothing  for  ourselves  and  thereby  render  ourselves  invulnerable 
to  the  European  states,  the  other  (which  our  country  will  be 
for)  is  to  carry  as  much  as  possible.  But  this  will  require  a 
protecting  force  on  the  sea.  Otherwise  the  smallest  power  in 
Europe,  every  one  which  possesses  a  single  ship  of  the  line,  may 
dictate  to  us  and  enforce  their  demands  by  captures  on  our 
commerce.  Some  naval  force,  then,  is  necessary  if  we  mean  to 
be  commercial.  (To  James  Monroe,  1785.  F.  IV.,  32.) 

NAVY. — I  believe  I  shall  have  to  advertise  for  a  Secretary  of 
the  Navy.  General  Smith  is  performing  the  duties  gratis,  as 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  317 

he  refuses  both  commission  and  salary,  even  his  expenses,  lest 
it  should  affect  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  (To 
Gouverneur  Morris,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  49.) 

NEGROES. — Never  yet  could  I  find  that  a  black  had  uttered  a 
thought  above  the  level  of  plain  narration;  never  seen  even  an 
elementary  trait  of  painting-  or  sculpture.  In  music  they  are 
generally  more  gifted  than  the  whites,  with  accurate  ears  for 
tune  and  time,  and  they  have  been  found  capable  of  imagining 
a  small  catch.  Whether  they  will  be  equal  to  the  composition 
of  a  more  extensive  run  of  melody,  or  of  complicated  harmony, 
is  yet  to  be  proved.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III., 
246.) 

*    NEGROES. — Whether    further    observation    will    or    will    not 
verify  the  conjecture  that  nature  has  been  less  bountiful  to  them 
in  the  endowments  of  the  head,  I  believe  that  in  those  of  the 
heart  she  will  be  found  to  have  done  them  justice.     That  dis-^; 
position  to  theft  with  which  they  have  been  branded  must  be 
ascribed  to  their  situation,  and  not  to-  any  depravity  of  the_ 
moral  sense.     The  man  in  whose  favor  no  laws  of  property 
exist,  probably  feels  himself  less  bound  to  respect  those  made  in 
favor  of  others.     *     *     *     It  is  a  problem  which  I  give  to  th^r 
master  to  solve  whether  the  slave  may  not  justifiably  take  a 
little  from  one  who  has  taken  all  from  him,  as  he  may  slay  one 
who  would  slay  him?     (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.     F.^ 

HI,  249-) 

NEGROES. — It  will  probably  be  asked,  "Why  not  retain  and 
incorporate  the  blacks  (after  the  proposed  emancipation)  into 
the  State  and  thus  save  the  expense  of  supplying  by  importa 
tion  of  white  settlers,  the  vacancies  they  will  leave  ?"  Deep  rooted 
prejudices  entertained  by  the  whites;  ten  thousand  recollections 
by  the  blacks,  of  the  injuries  they  have  sustained;  new  provoca 
tions;  the  real  distinctions  which  nature  has  made;  and  many 
other  circumstances  will  divide  us  into  parties,  and  produce 
convulsions,  which  will  probably  never  end  but  in  the  extermina 
tion  of  the  one  or  the  other  race.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia/' 
1782.  F.  III.,  244.) 

NEGROES. — Nobody  wishes  more  than  I  do  to  see  such  proofs 


318  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

as  you  exhibit  that  nature  has  given  to  our  black  brethren 
talents  equal  to  those  of  the  other  colors  of  men,  and  that  the 
appearance  of  the  want  of  them  is  owing  merely  to  the  degraded 
condition  of  their  existence  both  in  Africa  and  America.  I 
can  add  with  truth  that  nobody  wishes  more  ardently  to  see  a 
good  system  commenced  for  raising  the  condition  of  their  body 
and  mind  to  what  it  ought  to  be,  as  fast  as  the  imbecility  of 
their  present  existence,  and  other  circumstances  which  cannot 
be  neglected,  will  admit.  (To  Benjamin  Bainecker,  1791.  F. 

V,  378.) 

NEIGHBORS. — The  testimony  of  my  native  country,  of  the 
individuals  who  have  known  me  in  private  life,  to  my  conduct 
in  its  various  duties  and  relations,  is  the  more  grateful,  as  pro 
ceeding  from  eye  witnesses  and  observers,  from  triers  of  the 
vicinage.  Of  you,  then,  my  neighbors,  I  may  ask,  in  the  face 
of  the  world,  "Whose  ox  have  I  taken,  or  whom  have  I  de 
frauded?  Whom  have  I  oppressed,  or  of  whose  hand  have  I 
received  a  bribe  to  blind  my  eyes  therewith?"  On  your  verdict 
I  rest  with  conscious  security.  (To  the  inhabitants  of  Albe- 
marle  County,  1809.  C.  V.,  439.) 

NEPOTISM. — Bringing  into  office  no<  desires  of  making  it  sub 
servient  to  the  advancement  of  my  own  private  interests,  it  has 
been  no  sacrifice,  by  postponing  them,  to  strengthen  the  con 
fidence  of  my  fellow  citizens.  But  I  have  not  felt  equal  indif 
ference  towards  excluding  merit  from  office,  merely  because  it 
Avas  related  to*  me.  However,  I  have  thought  it  my  duty  so  to 
do,  that  my  constituents  may  be  satisfied,  that,  in  selecting 
persons  for  the  management  of  their  affairs,  I  am  influenced  by 
neither  personal  nor  family  interests,  and,  especially,  that  the 
field  of  public  office  will  not  be  perverted  by  me  into  a  family 
property.  (To  Horatio  Turpin,  1807.  C.  V.,  90.) 

NEPOTISM. — In  the  course  of  the  trusts  I  have  exercised 
through  life  with  powers  of  appointment,  I  can  say  with  truth, 
and  with  unspeakable  comfort,  that  I  never  did  appoint  a 
relation  to  office,  and  that  merely  because  I  never  saw  the  case 
in  which  some  one  did  not  offer,  or  occur,  better  qualified.  (To 
J.  C.  Cabell,  1824.  C.  VII,  331.) 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  319 

NEPOTISM. — The  public  will  never  be  made  to  believe  that 
an  appointment  of  a  relative  is  made  on  the  ground  of  merit 
alone,  uninfluenced  by  family  views;  nor  can  they  ever  see  with 
approbation  offices  the  disposal  of  which  they  entrust  to  their 
Presidents  for  public  purposes  divided  out  as  family  property. 
*  It  is  true  that  this  places  the  relatives  of  the  Presi 
dent  in  a  worse  situation  than  if  he  were  a  stranger,  but  the 
public  good  which  cannot  be  affected  if  its  confidence  be  lost 
requires  the  sacrifice.  Perhaps,  too,  it  is  compensated  by  shar 
ing  in  the  public  esteem. 

NEWS. — Every  one  may  observe  by  recollecting  that  when  he 
has  been  long  absent  from  his  neighborhood  the  small  news  of 
that  is  the  most  pleasing  and  occupies  his  first  attention,  either 
when  he  meets  with  a  person  from  thence,  or  returns  thither 
himself.  I  shall  hope,  therefore,  that  the  letter  in  which  you 
have  been  so  good  as  to  give  me  the  minute  occurrences  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Monticello  may  yet  come  to  hand.  (To 
Archibald  Stuart,  written  from  Paris,  1786.  F.  IV.,  187.) 

NEWSPAPERS. — At  a  very  early  period  of  my  life  I  determined 
never  to  put  a  sentence  into  any  newspaper.  I  have  religiously 
adhered  to  the  resolution  through  my  life  and  have  great  reason 
to  be  contented  with  it.  Were  I  to  undertake  to  answer  the 
calumnies  of  the  newspapers  it  would  be  more  than  all  my  time 
and  twenty  aids  could  effect.  For,  while  I  should  be  answering 
one,  twenty  new  ones  would  be  invented.  I  have  thought  it 
better  to  trust  to  the  justice  of  my  countrymen  that  they  would 
judge  me  by  wrhat  they  see  of  my  conduct  on  the  stage  where 
they  have  placed  me.  (To  Samuel  Smith,  1798.  F.  VII.,  279.) 

NEWSPAPERS. — A  coalition  of  sentiments  is  not  for  the  inter 
ests  of  printers.  They,  like  the  clergy,  live  by  the  zeal  they 
can  kindle  and  the  schemes  they  can  create.  It  is  contest  of 
opinion  in  politics  as  well  as  religion  which  makes  us  take  great 
interest  in  them,  and  bestow  our  money  liberally  on  those  who 
furnish  aliment  to  our  appetite.  The  mild  and  simple  principles 
of  Christian  philosophy  would  produce  too  much  calm,  too 
much  regularity  of  good,  to  extract  from  its  disciples  a  support 
for  a  numerous  priesthood,  were  they  not  to  sophisticate  it, 


320 


THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 


ramify  it,  split  it  into  hairs,  and  twist  its  texts  till  they  cover  the 
divine  morality  of  its  author  with  mysteries,  and  require  a 
priesthood  to  explain  them.  *  *  *  So  the  printers  can 
never  leave  us  in  a  state  of  perfect  rest  and  union  of  opinion. 
They  would  be  no  longer  useful  and  would  have  to  go  to  the 
plough.  (To  Elbridge  Gerry,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  42.) 

NEWSPAPERS. — The  basis  of  our  government  being  the  opin 
ion  of  the  people,  the  very  first  object  should  be  to  keep  that 
right;  and  were  it  left  to  me  to  decide  whether  we  should  have 
a  government  without  newspapers,  or  newspapers  without  a 
government,  I  should  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  prefer  the  latter. 
But  I  should  mean  that  every  man  should  receive  these  papers 
and  be  capable  of  reading  them.  (To  Edward  Carrington,  writ- 
xten  from  Paris,  1787.  F.  IV.,  360.) 

NEWSPAPERS. — To  your  request  of  my  opinion  of  the  manner 
in  which  a  newspaper  should  be  conducted,  so<  as  to  be  most 
useful,  I  should  answer,  "by  restraining  it  to  true  facts  and 
sound  principles  only/'  Yet  I  fear  such  a  paper  would  find  few 
subscribers.  It  is  a  melancholy  truth,  that  a  suppression  of  the 
press  could  not  more  completely  deprive  the  nation  of  its  bene 
fits,  than  is  done  by  its  abandoned  prostitution  to  falsehood. 
Nothing  can  now  be  believed  which  is  seen  in  a  newspaper. 
Truth  itself  becomes  suspicious  by  being  put  into  that  polluted 
vehicle.  The  real  extent  of  this  state  of  misinformation  is 
known  only  to  those  who  are  in  situations  to  confront  facts 
within  their  knowledge  with  the  lies  of  the  day.  I  really  look 
with  commiseration  over  the  great  body  of  my  fellow  citizens 
who,  reading  newspapers,  live  and  die  in  the  belief  that  they 
have  known  something  of  what  has  been  passing  in  the  world 
in  their  time;  whereas,  the  accounts  they  have  read  in  news 
papers  are  just  as  true  a  history  of  any  other  period  of  the 
world  as  of  the  present,  except  that  the  real  names  of  the  day 
are  affixed  to  their  fables.  General  facts  may  indeed  be  collected 
from  them,  such  as  that  Europe  is  now  at  war,  that  Bonaparte 
has  been  a  successful  warrior,  that  he  has  subjected  a  great 
portion  of  Europe  to  his  will,  etc.,  etc.;  but  no  details  can  be 
relied  upon.  I  will  add,  that  the  man  who  never  looks  into  a 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  321 

newspaper  is  better  informed  than  he  who  reads  them;  inasmuch 
as  he  who  knows  nothing  is  nearer  to  truth  than  he  whose  mind 
is  filled  with  falsehoods  and  errors.     (To  John  Norvell,  1807.  / 
C  V.,  91.) 

NEWSPAPERS. — See  The  Press. 

NEWSPAPER  CORRESPONDENCE. — I  never  did  in  my  life,  either 
by  myself  or  by  any  other,  have  a  sentence  of  mine  inserted  in  a 
newspaper  without  putting  my  name  to  it;  and  I  believe  I 
never  shall.  (To  John  Adams,  1791.  F.  V.,  355.) 

NON-INTERCOURSE. — The  idea  seems  to  gain  credit  that  the 
naval  powers  combined  against  France  will  prohibit  supplies 
even  of  provisions  to  that  country.  Should  this  be  formally 
notified  I  should  suppose  Congress  would  be  called,  because 
it  is  a  justifiable  cause  of  war.  *  *  *  But  I  should  hope 
war  would  not  be  their  choice.  I  think  it  will  furnish  a  happy 
opportunity  of  setting  another  example  to  the  world,  by  show 
ing  nations  may  be  brought  to*  do  justice  by  appeals  to  their 
interests  as  well  as  by  appeals  to  their  arms.  I  should  hope  that 
Congress  instead  of  a  denunciation  of  war  would  instantly 
exclude  from  our  ports  all  the  manufactures,  produce,  vessels 
and  subjects  of  the  nations  committing  this  aggression  during 
the  continuance  of  the  aggression  and  till  full  satisfaction  made 
for  it.  This  would  work  well  in  many  ways,  safely  in  all,  and 
introduce  between  nations  another  empire  than  arms.  It  would 
relieve  us,  too,  from  the  risks  and  the  horrors  of  cutting  throats. 
(To  James  Madison,  1793.  F.  VI.,  192.) 

NOVELS. — A  great  obstacle  to  good  education  is  the  inordi 
nate  passion  prevalent  for  novels,  and  the  time  lost  in  that 
reading  which  should  be  instructively  employed.  When  this 
passion  infects  the  mind,  it  destroys  its  tone  and  revolts  it 
against  wholesome  reading.  Reason  and  fact,  plain  and  una- 
dored,  are  rejected.  Nothing  can  gain  attention  unless  dressed 
in  all  the  figments  of  fancy,  and  nothing  so  bedecked  comes 
amiss.  The  result  is  a  bloated  imagination,  sickly  judgment, 
and  disgust  towards  all  the  real  business  of  life.  This  mass  of 
trash,  however,  is  not  without  some  distinction;  some  few 
modelling  their  narratives,  although  fictitious,  on  the  incidents 


322  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

of  real  life,  have  been  able  to  make  them  interesting  and  useful 
vehicles  of  a  sound  morality.  Such,  I  think,  are  Marmontel's 
new  moral-tales,  but  not  his  old  ones;  which  are  really  im 
moral.  Such  are  the  writings  of  Miss  Edgeworth,  and  some  of 
those  of  Madame  Genlis,  For  a  like  reason,  too,  much  poetry 
should  not  be  indulged.  Some  is  useful  for  forming  style  and 
taste.  Pope,  Dryden,  Thompson,  Shakespeare,  and  of  the 
French,  Moliere,  Racine,  the  Corneilles,  may  be  read  with 
pleasure  and  improvement.  (To  N.  Burwell,  1818.  C.  VII. , 
101.) 

NULLIFICATION. — See  Kentucky  Resolutions. 

OFFICES. — In  our  country  you  know  talents  alone  are  not  to 
be  the  determining  circumstance,  but  a  geographical  equi 
librium  is  to  a  certain  degree  expected.  The  different  parts  in 
the  Union  expect  to  share  the  public  appointments.  (To 
Horatio  Gates,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  11.) 

OFFICES. — That  some  ought  to  be  removed  from  office,  and 
that  all  ought  not,  all  mankind  will  agree.  But  where  to  draw 
the  line  perhaps  no  two  will  agree.  Consequently,  nothing  like 
a  general  approbation  on  this  subject  can  be  looked  for.  Some 
principles  have  been  the  subject  of  conversation,  but  not  to 
determination;  e.  g.,  all  appointments  to  civil  offices  during 
pleasure  made  after  the  event  of  the  election  was  certainly 
known  to  Mr.  Adams  are  considered  as  nullities.  I  do  not  view 
the  persons  appointed  as  even  candidates  for  the  office,  but 
make  others  without  noticing  or  notifying  them.  Mr.  Adams' 
best  friends  have  agreed  this  is  right.  Officers  who  have  been 
guilty  of  official  malconduct  are  proper  subjects  of  removal. 
Good  men,  to  whom  there  is  no  objection  but  a  difference  of 
political  principle,  practised  on  only  as  far  as  the  right  of  a 
private  citizen  will  justify,  are  not  proper  subjects  of  removal, 
except  in  the  cases  of  attorneys  and  marshals.  The  courts  being 
as  decidedly  federal  and  irremovable,  it  is  believed  that  Republi 
can  attorneys  and  marshals  being  the  doors  of  entrance  into  the 
courts  are  indispensably  necessary  as  a  shield  to  the  Republican 
part  of  our  fellow  citizens,  which  I  believe  is  the  main  body  of 
the  people.  (To  William  Giles,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  25.) 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  323 

OFFICES. — With  regard  to  appointments,  I  have  so  much  con 
fidence  in  the  justice  and  good  sense  of  the  Federalists  that  I 
have  no  doubt  they  will  concur  in  the  fairness  of  the  position 
that  after  they  have  been  in  the  exclusive  possession  of  all  the 
offices  from  the  very  first  origin  of  party  among  us  to  the  third 
of  March  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  night,  no  Republican  ever 
admitted,  and  this  doctrine  newly  avowed,  it  is  now  perfectly 
just  that  the  Republicans  should  come  in  for  the  vacancies 
which  may  fall  in  until  something  like  an  equilibrium  in  office 
be  restored;  after  which  Tros  Tyriusque  nullo  discrimine 
habetur.  *  *  *  Of  the  thousand  of  officers  in  the  United 
States  a  very  few  individuals  only,  probably  not  twenty  will  be 
removed;  and  these  only  for  doing  what  they  ought  not  to 
have  done.  *  *  *  I  know  that  in  stopping  thus  short  in 
the  career  of  removal,  I  shall  give  offense  to  many  of  my  friends. 
That  torrent  has  been  pressing  me  heavily  and  will  require  all 
my  force  to  bear  up  against;  but  my  maxim  is  "fiat  justitia, 
mat  caelum."  After  the  first  unfavorable  impressions  of  doing 
too  much  in  the  opinion  of  some  and  too  little  in  that  of  others 
shall  be  got  over,  I  should  hope  a  steady  line  of  conciliation 
very  practicable,  and  that  without  yielding  a  single  Republican 
principle.  (To  Benjamin  Rush,  1801.  F.  VIII. ,  32.) 
-/  OFFICES. — Pray  recommend  one  to  me  as  a  marshal ;  and  let 
him  be  the  most  respectable  and  inexceptionable  possible;  and_ 
especially  let  him  be  Republican.  The  only  shield  for  our 
Republican  citizens  against  the  federalism  of  the  courts  is  to 
have  the  attorneys  and  marshals  Republicans.  There  is  nothing^ 
I  am  so  anxious  about  as  good  nominations,  conscious  that  the 
merit  as  well  as  reputation  of  an  administration  depends  as  much 
upon  that  as  on  its  measures.  (To  Archibald  Stuart,  1801.  F. 
VIIL,  470 

OFFICES. — In  Connecticut  alone  a  general  sweep  seems  to  be 
called  on  for  principles  of  justice  and  policy.  Their  Legislature 
now  sitting  are  removing  every  Republican  even  from  the  com 
missions  of  the  peace  and  the  lowest  offices.  There  then  we  will 
retaliate.  Whilst  the  Federalists  are  taking  possession  of  all 
the  State  offices,  exclusively,  they  ought  not  to  expect  we  will 


324  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

leave  them  the  exclusive  possessions  of  these  at  our  disposal. 
The  Republicans  have  some  rights  and  must  be  protected.  (To 
W.  C.  Nicholas,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  64.) 

OFFICES. — When  it  is  considered  that  during  the  late  adminis 
tration,  those  who  were  not  of  a  particular  sect  of  politics  were 
excluded  from  all  office;  when,  by  a  steady  pursuit  of  this 
measure,  nearly  the  whole  offices  of  the  United  States  were 
monopolized  by  that  sect;  when  the  public  sentiment  at  length 
declared  itself,  and  burst  open  the  doors  of  honor  and  con 
fidence  to  those  whose  opinions  they  more  approved,  was  it  to 
be  imagined  that  this  monopoly  of  office  was  still  to  be  con 
tinued  in  the  hands  of  the  minority?  Does  it  violate  their 
equal  rights,  to  assert  some  rights  in  the  majority  also?  Is  it 
political  intolerance  to  claim  a  proportionate  share  in  the  direc 
tion  of  public  affairs?  Can  they  not  harmonize  in  society  unless 
they  have  everything  in  their  own  hands?  If  the  will  of  the 
nation,  manifested  by  their  various  elections,  calls  for  an  admin 
istration  of  government  according  with  the  opinions  of  those 
elected;  if,  for  the  fulfilment  of  that  will,  displacements  are 
necessary,  with  whom  can  they  so  justly  begin  as  with  persons 
appointed  in  the  last  moments  of  an  administration,  not  for  its 
own  aid,  but  to  begin  a  career  at  the  same  time  with  their  suc 
cessors,  by  whom  they  had  never  been  approved,  and  who  could 
scarcely  expect  from  them  a  cordial  co-operation?  *  *  * 
If  a  due  participation  of  office  is  a  matter  of  right,  how  are 
vacancies  to  be  obtained?  Those  by  death  are  few;  by  resigna 
tion,  none.  Can  any  other  mode  than  that  by  removal  be 
proposed?  This  is  a  painful  office;  but  it  is  made  my  duty, 
and  I  meet  it  as  such.  I  proceed  in  the  operation  with  delibera 
tion  and  inquiry,  that  it  may  injure  the  best  men  least,  and 
effect  the  purposes  of  justice  and  public  utility  with  the  least 
private  distress;  that  it  may  be  thrown,  as  much  as  possible,  on 
delinquency,  on  oppression,  on  intolerance,  on  incompetence, 
on  ante-revolutionary  adherence  to  our  enemies.  *  *  *  I 
lament  sincerely  that  unessential  differences  of  political  opinion 
should  ever  have  been  deemed  sufficient  to  interdict  half  the 
society  from  the  rights  and  the  blessings  of  self-government,  to 


OF  THOMAS   JEFFERSON  325 

proscribe  them  as  characters  unworthy  of  every  trust.  It  would 
have  been  to  me  a  circumstance  of  great  relief,  had  I  found  a 
moderate  participation  of  office  in  the  hands  of  the  majority. 
I  would  gladly  have  left  to  time  and  accident  to  raise  them  to 
their  just  share.  But  their  total  conclusion  calls  for  prompter 
corrections.  I  shall  correct  the  procedure;  but  that  done,  shall 
disdain  to  follow  it,  and  return  with  joy  to  that  state  of  things, 
when  the  only  question  concerning  a  candidate  shall  be,  Is  he 
honest?  Is  he  capable?  Is  he  faithful  to  the  Constitution? 
(To  Elias  Shipman  and  Others,  1801.  F.  VIII. ,  69-70.) 

OFFICES. — These  letters  ail  relating  to  office  fall  within  the 
general  rule,  which  even  the  very  first  week  of  my  being  engaged 
in  the  administration  obliged  me  to  establish,  to  wit,  that  of  not 
answering  letters  on  office  specifically,  but  leaving  the  answer 
to  be  found  in  what  is  done  or  not  done  on  them.  You  will 
readily  conceive  into  what  scrapes  one  would  get  by  saying 
no,  either  with  or  without  reason,  by  using  a  softer  language 
which  might  excite  false  hope  or  by  saying-  yes  prematurely. 
And  to  take  away  all  offence  from  the  silent  answer,  it  is 
necessary  to  adhere  to  it  in  every  case  rigidly,  as  well  with 
bosom  friends  as  with  strangers.  (To  Aaron  Burr,  1801.  F. 
VIII.,  102.) 

OFFICES. — I  still  think  our  original  idea  as  to  office  is  best; 
that  is,  to  depend,  for  the  obtaining  a  first  participation,  on 
deaths,  resignations,  and  delinquencies.  This  will  least  affect 
the  tranquillity  of  the  people,  and  prevent  their  giving  in  to  the 
suggestion  of  our  enemies,  that  ours  has  been  a  contest  for 
office,  not  for  principle.  This  is  rather  a  slow  operation,  but 
it  is  sure  if  we  pursue  it  steadily,  which,  however,  has  not  been 
done  with  the  undeviating  resolution  I  could  have  wished.  To 
these  means  of  obtaining  a  just  share  in  the  transaction  of  the 
public  business,  shall  be  added  one  other,  to  wit,  removal  for 
electioneering,  activity,  or  open  and  industrious  opposition  to 
the  principles  of  the  present  government,  legislative  and  execu 
tive.  Every  officer  of  the  government  may  vote  at  elections 
according  to  his  conscience;  but  we  should  betray  the  cause 
committed  to  our  care,  were  we  to  permit  the  influence  of 


326  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

official  patronage  to  be  used  to  overthrow  the  cause.  (To  Levi 
Lincoln,  1802.  F.  VIIL,  176.) 

OFFICES. — I  have  always  considered  the  control  of  the  Senate 
as  meant  to  prevent  any  bias  or  favoritism  in  the  President  to 
wards  his  own  relations,  his  own  religion,  towards  particular 
States,  etc.,  and  perhaps  to  keep  very  obnoxious  persons  out  of 
offices  of  the  first  grade.  But  in  all  subordinate  cases  I  have 
ever  thought  that  the  selection  made  by  the  President  ought  to 
inspire  a  general  confidence  that  it  has  been  made  on  due 
inquiry  and  investigation  of  character,  and  that  the  Senate 
should  interpose  their  negative  only  in  those  particular  cases 
where  something  happens  to  be  within  their  knowledge  against 
the  character  of  the  person  and  unfitting  him  for  the  appoint 
ment.  (To  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  1803.  F.  VIIL, 
211.) 

OFFICES. — Had  you  hundreds  to  nominate,  instead  of  one,  be 
assured  they  would  not  compose  for  you  a  bed  of  roses.  You 
would  find  yourself  in  most  cases  with  one  loaf  and  ten  wanting 
bread.  Nine  must  be  disappointed,  perhaps  become  secret  if 
not  open  enemies.  The  transaction  of  the  great  interests  of 
our  country  costs  as  little  trouble  or  difficulty.  There  the  line 
is  plain  to  men  of  some  experience.  But  the  task  of  appoint 
ment  is  a  heavy  one  indeed.  He  on  whom  it  falls  may  envy  the 
lot  of  a  Sisyphus  or  Ixion.  Their  agonies  were  of  the  body — 
this  of  the  mind.  Yet,  like  the  office  of  hangman,  it  must  be 
executed  by  some  one.  It  has  been  assigned  to  me  and  made 
my  duty.  I  made  up  my  mind  to  it,  therefore,  and  abandon  all 
regard  to  consequences.  (To  Larkin  Smith,  1804.  F.  VIIL, 

3370 

OFFICES. — No  man  who  has  conducted  himself  according  to 
his  duties  would  have  anything  to  fear  from  me  as  those  who 
have  done  ill  would  have  nothing  to  hope,  be  their  political 
principles  what  they  might.  The  obtaining  an  appointment 
presents  new  difficulties.  The  Republicans  have  been  excluded 
from  all  offices  from  the  first  origin  of  the  division  into  Repub 
lican  and  Federalist.  They  have  a  reasonable  claim  to  vacancies 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  327 

till  they  occupy  their  due  share.  (To  Dr.  B.  S.  Bordon,  1801. 
F.  VII.,  489.) 

OFFICES. — I  have  never  removed  a  man  merely  because  he  was 
a  Federalist;  I  have  never  wished  them  to  give  a  vote  at  the 
election,  but  according  to  their  own  wishes.  But  as  no  govern 
ment  could  discharge  its  duties  to  the  best  advantage  of  its 
citizens  if  its  agents  were  in  a  regular  course  of  thwarting 
instead  of  executing  all  its  measures  (and  were  employing  the 
patronage  and  influence  of  their  offices  against  the  government 
and  its  measures),  I  have  only  requested  they  would  be  quiet, 
and  they  should  be  safe;  that  if  their  conscience  urges  them  to 
take  an  active  and  zealous  part  in  opposition,  it  ought  also  to 
urge  them  to  retire  from  a  post  which  they  could  not  conscien 
tiously  conduct  with  fidelity  to  the  trust  reposed  in  them;  and 
on  failure  to  retire,  I  have  removed  them;  that  is  to  say,  those 
who  maintained  an  active  and  zealous  opposition  to  the  govern 
ment.  (To  John  Page,  1807.  C.  V.,  136.) 

OHIO  RIVER. — The  Ohio  is  the  most  beautiful  river  on  earth. 
Its  current  gentle,  waters  clear,  and  bosom  smooth  and  un 
broken  and  rapid,  a  single  instance  only  excepted.  (From 
"Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  93.) 

OLIGARCHY. — I  fear  the  oligarchical  executive  of  the  French 
will  not  do.  We  have  always  seen  a  small  council  get  into 
cabals  and  quarrels,  the  more  bitter  and  relentless  the  fewer  they 
are.  We  saw  this  in  our  committee  of  the  States;  and  that  they 
were  from  their  bad  passions  incapable  of  doing  the  business  of 
the  country.  I  think  that  for  the  prompt,  clear  and  consistent 
action  so  necessary  in  an  executive  unity  of  person  is  necessary 
as  with  us.  (To  John  Adams,  1796.  F.  VII.,  56.) 

OPINION. — For  even  if  we  differ  in  principle  more  than  I  be 
lieve  we  do,  you  and  I  know  too  well  the  texture  of  the  human 
mind  and  the  slipperiness  of  human  reason  to  consider  differ 
ences  of  opinion  otherwise  than  differences  of  form  or  feature. 
Integrity  of  views  more  than  their  soundness  is  the  basis  of 
esteem.  (To  Elbridge  Gerry,  1799.  F.  VII.,  335.) 

OSSIAN. — The  poems  of  Ossian  have  been  and  will,  I  think 
during  my  life,  continue  to  be  to  me  the  sources  of  daily  pleas- 


328  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

tires.  The  tender  and  sublime  emotions  of  the  mind  were  never 
before  so  wrought  up  by  the  human  hand.  I  am  not  ashamed 
to  own  that  I  think  this  rude  bard  of  the  North  the  greatest 
poet  that  has  ever  existed.  (To  Chas.  McPherson,  a  merchant 
of  Edinburgh  and  a  relative  of  James  McPherson,  the  author 
of  the  Ossianic  poems,  17/3.  F.  I.,  414.) 

PAINE,  THOMAS. — A  writer  under  the  name  of  Publicola  (J.Q. 
Adams)  in  attacking  all  Paine's  principles,  is  very  desirous  of 
involving  me  in  the  same  censure  with  the  author.  I  certainly 
merit  the  same,  for  I  profess  the  same  principles,  but  it  is 
equally  certain  I  never  meant  to  have  entered  as  a  volunteer 
into  the  cause.  (To*  James  Monroe,  1791.  F.  V.,  352.) 

PAINE  AND  BOLINGBROKE. — You  ask  my  opinion  of  Lord 
Bolingbroke  and  Thomas  Paine.     They  were  alike  in  making 
bitter  enemies  o>f  the  priests  and  Pharisees  of  their  day.     Both 
were  honest  men;    both  advocates  for  human  liberty.     Paine 
wrote  for  a  country  which  prevented  him  to  push  his  reasoning 
to  whatever  length  it  would  go.     Lord  Bolingbroke  in  one 
restrained  by  a  constitution,  and  by  public  opinion.     He  was 
indeed  a  Tory;  but  his  writings  prove  him  a  stronger  advocate 
for  liberty  than  any  of  his  countrymen,  the  Whigs  of  the  present 
day.    Irritated  by  his  exile,  he  committed  one  act  unworthy  of 
him,  in  connecting  himself  momentarily  with  a  prince  rejected 
by  his  country.     But  he  redeemed  that  single  act  by  his  estab 
lishment  of  the  principles  which  proved  it  to  be  wrong.    These 
two  persons  differed  remarkably  in  the  style  of  their  writing, 
each  leaving  a  model  of  what  is  most  perfect  in  both  extremes 
of  the  simple  and  the  sublime.     No  writer  has  exceeded  Paine 
in  ease  and  familiarity  of  style,  in  perspicuity  of  expression,  hap 
piness  of  elucidation,  and  in  simple  and  unassuming  language. 
In  this  he  may  be  compared  to  Dr.  Franklin;   and  indeed  his 
Common  Sense  was  for  a  while  believed  to-  have  been  written 
by  Dr.  Franklin,  and  published  under  the  borrowed  name  of 
Paine,  who*  had  come  over  with  him  from    England.      Lord 
Bolingbroke's,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  style  of  the  highest  order. 
The  lofty,  rhythmical,  full-flowing  eloquence  of  Cicero!  Periods 
of  just  measure,  their  members  proportioned,  their  close  full 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  329 

and  round.  His  conceptions,  too,  are  bold  and  strong,  his 
doctrine  copious,  polished  and  commanding  as  his  subject.  His 
writings  are  certainly  the  finest  samples  in  the  English  lan 
guage  of  the  eloquence  proper  for  the  Senate.  His  political 
tracts  are  safe  reading  for  the  most  timid  religionist,  his  philo 
sophical,  for  those  who  are  not  afraid  to  trust  their  reason  with 
discussions  of  right  and  wrong.  (To>  Francis  Eppes,  f$8i.  C. 
VII.,  198.) 

PAPER  MONEY. — I  wish  it  were  possible  to  obtain  a  single 
amendment  to  our  Constitution.  I  would  be  willing  to  depend 
on  that  alone  for  the  reduction  of  the  administration  of  our 
government  to  the  genuine  principles  of  its  Constitution;  I 
mean  an  additional  article  taking  from  the  Federal  Government 
the  power  of  borrowing.  I  now  deny  their  power  of  making 
paper  money  or  anything  else  a  legal  tender.  I  know  that  to 
pay  all  proper  expenses  within  the  year  would  in  case  of  war  be 
hard  upon  us.  But  not  so  hard  as  ten  wars  instead  of  one. 
(To  John  Taylor,  1798.  F.  VII.,  310.) 

PARDONS. — I  have  made  it  a  rule  to  grant  no  pardon  in  any 
criminal  case,  but  on  the  recommendation  of  the  judges  who 
sat  on  trial,  and  the  district  attorney,  or  two  of  them.  I  be 
lieve  it  a  sound  rule,  and  not  to  be  departed  from  but  in  extra 
ordinary  cases.  (To  Albert  Gallatin,  1806.  F.  VIII.,  465.) 

PARLIAMENT. — We  conceive  that  the  British  Parliament  has 
no  right  to  intermeddle  with  our  provisions  for  the  support  of 
civil  government  or  administration  of  justice.  The  provisions 
we  have  made  are  such  as  please  ourselves;  they  answer  the 
substantial  purposes  of  government  and  justice,  and  other  pur 
poses  than  these  should  not  be  answered.  While  Parliament 
pursue  their  plan  of  civil  government  within  their  own  jurisdic 
tion,  we  hope  also  to  pursue  ours  without  molestation.  (From 
a  report  on  Lord  North's  "Conciliatory  Propositions,"  1775. 
F.  I.,  480.) 

PAROLE. — With  respect  to  the  parole  men  my  sentiments  are 
these:  that  I  unwarily  entered  into  an  engagement  of  which 
the  laws  of  my  country  would  not  permit  me  to  fulfill  I  should 
certainly  deliver  myself  to  the  enemy  to  cancel  that  engagement 


330  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

and  free  my  personal  honor  from  imputation.  (To  Thomas 
Nelson,  1781.  F.  II.,  435-) 

PAROLE. — By  the  law  of  nations  a  breach  of  parole  can  only 
be  punished  by  strict  confinement.  I  would  willingly  suppose 
that  no  British  officer  had  ever  expressed  a  contrary  purpose. 
It  has,  however,  become  my  duty  to  declare  that  should  such  a 
threat  be  carried  into  execution,  it  will  be  deemed  as  putting 
prisoners  to  death  in  cold  blood,  and  shall  be  followed  by  the 
execution  of  so  many  British  prisoners  in  our  possession.  (To 
a  British  General,  1781.  F.  II.,  512.) 

PARTIES. — Parties  seem  to  have  taken  a  very  well  defined  form 
in  this  quarter.  The  old  Tories,  joined  by  our  merchants  who 
trade  in  British  capital,  paper  dealers,  stock-brokers  and  the 
idle  rich  of  the  great  commercial  towns  are  with  the  kings. 
All  other  descriptions  with  the  French.  The  war  (between 
France  and  England)  has  kindled  and  brought  forward  the  two 
parties  with  an  ardour  which  our  own  interests  merely  could 
never  excite.  The  war  between  France  and  England  has 
brought  forward  the  Republicans  and  Monocrats  in  every  State 
so  openly  that  their  relative  numbers  are  perfectly  visible;  it 
appears  that  the  latter  are  as  nothing.  (To  James  Madison, 
1793.  F.  VI.,  326.) 

PARTIES. — Two  parties  then  do  exist  in  the  United  States. 
They  embrace  respectively  the  following  description  of  persons: 

The  anti-Republicans  consist  of 

1.  The  old  refugees  and  Tories. 

2.  The  British  merchants  residing  among  us,  and  comprising 
the  main  body  of  our  merchants. 

3.  American  merchants  trading  in  British  capital.    Another 
great  portion. 

4.  Speculators  and  holders  in  the  banks  and  public  funds. 

5.  Officers   of  the  Federal   Government,  with  some  excep 
tions. 

6.  Office  hunters  willing  to  give  up  principles  for  places.    A 
numerous  and  noisy  tribe. 

7.  Nervous  persons,  whose  languid  fibres  have  more  analogy 
with  a  passive  than  an  active  state  of  things. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  331 

The  Republican  party  of  the  Union  comprehends: 

1.  The  entire  body  of  land-holders  throughout  the  United 
States. 

2.  The  body  of  labourers  not  being*  land-holders,  whether  in 
husbanding  or  the  arts.     (From  notes  on  Professor  Ebelling's 
letter,  1795.     F.  VII.,  47.) 

PARTIES. — Were  parties  here  divided  merely  by  a  greediness 
for  office,  as  in  England,  to  take  a  part  with  either  would  be 
unworthy  of  a  reasonable  or  moral  man,  but  where  the  principle 
of  difference  is  as  substantial  and  as  strongly  pronounced  as 
between  the  Republicans  and  the  Monocrats  of  our  country,  I 
hold  it  as  honorable  to  take  a  firm  and  decided  part,  and  as 
immoral  to  pursue  a  middle  line  as  between  the  parties  of 
honest  men  and  rogues  into  which  every  country  is  divided. 
(To  William  Giles,  1795.  F.  VII.,  43.) 

PARTIES. — When  a  Constitution  like  ours  wears  a  mixed  aspect 
of  monarchy  and  Republicanism  its  citizens  will  naturally  divide 
into  two  classes  of  sentiment,  according  as  their  tone  of  body 
or  mind,  their  habits,  connections  and  callings  induce  them  to 
wish  to  strengthen  either  the  monarchial  or  Republican  fea 
tures  of  the  Constitution.  Some  will  consider  it  as  an  elective 
monarchy,  which  had  better  be  made  hereditary,  and  therefore 
endeavor  to  lead  towards  that  all  the  forms  and  principles  of 
its  administration.  Others  will  view  it  as  an  energetic  republic, 
turning  in  all  its  points  on  the  pivot  of  free  and  frequent  elec 
tions.  The  great  body  of  our  native  citizens  are  unquestionably 
of  the  Republican  sentiment.  (To  James  Sullivan,  1797.  F. 
VII.,  117.) 

PARTIES. — But,  my  dear  friend,  if  we  do  not  learn  to  sacrifice 
small  differences  of  opinion,  we  can  never  act  together.  Every 
man  cannot  have  his  way  in  all  things.  If  his  own  opinion  pre 
vails  at  some  times,  he  should  acquiesce  on  seeing  that  of  others 
preponderate  at  others.  Without  this  mutual  disposition  we  are 
disjointed  individuals,  but  not  a  society.  My  position  is  painful 
enough  between  Federalists  who  cry  out  on  the  first  touch  of 
their  monopoly,  and  Republicans  who  clamor  for  universal 
removal.  A  subdivision  of  the  latter  will  increase  the  perplexity. 


332  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

I  am  proceeding  with  deliberation  and  inquiry  to  do  what  I 
think  just  to  both  descriptions  and  conciliatory  to  both.  The 
greatest  good  we  can  do  our  country  is  to  heal  its  party  divis 
ions  and  make  them  one  people.  I  do  not  speak  of  their  leaders 
who  are  incurable,  but  of  the  honest  and  well-intentioned  body 
of  the  people.  I  consider  the  pure  Federalist  as  a  Republican 
who  would  prefer  a  somewhat  stronger  executive;  and  the 
Republican  as  one  more  willing  to  trust  the  legislature  as  a 
broader  representation  of  the  people,  and  a  safer  deposit  of 
power  for  many  reasons.  But  both  sects  are  Republican,  en 
titled  to  the  confidence  of  their  fellow  citizens.  Not  so  their 
quondam  leaders  covering  under  the  mask  of  Federalism  hearts 
devoted  to  monarchy.  The  Hamiltonians,  the  Essex-men,  the 
revolutionary  Tories,  etc.  They  have  a  right  to  tolerance,  but 
neither  to  confidence  nor  power.  It  is  very  important  that  the 
pure  Federalist  and  Republican  should  see  in  the  opinion  of 
each  other  but  a  shade  of  his  own,  which  by  a  union  of  action 
will  be  lessened  by  one-half;  that  they  should  see  and  fear  the 
monarchist  as  their  common  enemy,  on  whom  they  should  keep 
their  eyes,  but  keep  off  their  hands.  (To  John  Dickinson,  1801. 
F.  VIII.,  76.) 

PARTIES. — We  shall  now  be  so  strong  that  we  shall  certainly 
split  again;  for  freemen  thinking  differently  and  speaking  and 
acting  as  they  think,  will  form  into  classes  of  sentiment,  but  it 
must  be  under  another  name;  that  of  Federalism  is  to  become 
so  scanted  that  no  party  can  rise  under  it.  As  the  division  be 
tween  Whig  and  Tory  is  founded  in  the  nature  of  men,  the 
weakly  and  nerveless,  the  rich  and  the  corrupt,  seeing  more 
safety  and  accessibility  in  a  strong  executive;  the  healthy,  firm 
and  virtuous  feeling  confidence  in  their  physical  and  moral 
resources,  and  willing1  to  part  with  only  so  much  power  as  is 
necessary  for  their  good  government,  and  therefore  to  retain 
the  rest  in  the  hands  of  the  many,  the  division  will  substantially 
be  into  Whig  and  Tory,  as  in  England,  formerly.  (To  Joel 
Barlow,  1802.  F.  VIII.,  150.) 

PARTIES. — I  tolerate  with  the  utmost  latitude  the  right  of 
others  to  differ  from  me  in  opinion  without  imputing  to  them 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  333 

criminality.  I  know  too  well  the  weakness  and  uncertainty  of 
human  reason  to  wonder  at  its  different  results.  Both  of  our 
political  parties,  at  least  the  honest  portion  of  them,  agree  con 
scientiously  in  the  same  object — the  public  good;  but  they 
differ  essentially  in  what  they  deem  the  means  of  promoting 
that  good.  One  side  believes  it  best  done  by  one  composition 
of  the  governing  powers;  the  others,  by  a  different  one.  One 
fears  most  the  ignorance  of  the  people;  the  other,  the  selfish 
ness  of  rulers  independent  of  them.  Which  is  right,  time  and 
experience  will  prove.  We  think  that  one  side  of  this  experi 
ment  has  been  long  enough  tried,  and  proved  not  to  promote 
the  good  of  the  many;  and  that  the  other  has  not  been  fairly 
and  sufficiently  tried.  Our  opponents  think  the  reverse.  With 
whichever  opinion  the  body  of  the  nation  concurs,  that  must 
prevail.  My  anxieties  on  the  subject  will  never  carry  me  beyond 
the  use  of  fair  and  honorable  means,  of  truth  and  reason;  nor 
have  they  ever  lessened  the  esteem  for  moral  worth,  nor  alien 
ated  my  affections  from  a  single  friend,  who  did  not  just  with 
draw  himself.  (To  Mrs.  John  Adams,  1804.  F.  VIII. ,  312.) 

PARTIES. — Men  have  differed  in  opinion,  and  been  divided 
into  parties  by  these  opinions,  from  the  first  origin  of  societies, 
and  in  all  governments  where  they  have  been  permitted  freely  to 
think  and  to  speak.  The  same  political  parties  which  now  agi 
tate  the  United  States  have  existed  through  all  time.  Whether 
the  power  of  the  people  or  that  of  the  tyrant  (?)  should  prevail, 
were  questions  which  kept  the  States  of  Greece  and  Rome  in 
eternal  convulsions,  as  they  now  schismatize  every  people  whose 
minds  and  mouths  are  not  shut  up  by  the  gag  of  a  despot.  And, 
in  fact,  the  terms  of  Whig  and  Tory  belong  to  natural  as  well  as 
to  civil  history.  They  denote  the  temper  and  constitution  of 
the  mind  of  different  individuals.  To  come  to  our  own  country 
and  to  the  time  when  you  and  I  became  first  acquainted,  we 
will  remember  the  violent  parties  which  agitated  the  old  Con 
gress,  and  their  bitter  contents.  There  you  and  I  were  to 
gether,  and  the  Jays,  and  the  Dickinsons,  and  other  anti-inde 
pendents,  were  arrayed  against  us.  They  cherished  the 
monarchy  of  England,  and  we  the  rights  of  our  countrymen. 


334  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

When  our  present  government  was  in  the  mew,  passing  from 
Confederation  to  Union,  how  bitter  was  the  schism  between  the 
Feds  and  the  Antis.  Here  you  and  I  were  together  again.  For, 
although  for  a  moment  separated  by  the  Atlantic  from  the 
scene  of  action,  I  favored  the  opinion  that  nine  States  should 
confirm  the  Constitution,  in  order  to  secure  it,  and  the  others 
hold  off  until  certain  amendment,  deemed  favorable  to  freedom 
should  be  made,  I  rallied  in  the  first  instant  to  the  wiser  propo 
sition  of  Massachusetts,  that  all  should  confirm,  and  then  all 
instruct  their  delegates  to  urge  those  amendments.  The 
amendments  were  made,  and  all  were  reconciled  to  the  govern 
ment.  But  as  soon  as  it  was  put  into  motion,  the  line  of  division 
was  again  drawn.  We  broke  into  two  parties,  each  wishing  to 
give  the  government  a  different  direction ;  the  one  to  strengthen 
the  most  popular  branch,  the  other  the  more  permanent 
branches,  and  to  extend  their  permanence.  *  *  *  There 
have  been  differences  of  opinion  and  party  differences,  from  the 
first  establishment  of  governments  to  the  present  day,  and  on 
the  same  question  which  now  divides  our  own  country;  that 
these  will  continue  through  all  future  time;  that  everyone  takes 
his  side  in  favor  of  the  many,  or  of  the  few,  according  to  his 
constitution,  and  the  circumstances  in  which  he  is  placed ;  that 
opinions,  which  are  equally  honest  on  both  sides,  should  not 
effect  personal  esteem  or  social  intercourse;  that  as  we  judge 
between  the  Claudii  and  the  Gracchi,  the  Wentworths  and  the 
Hampdens  of  past  age,  so  of  those  among  us  whose  names  may 
happen  to  be  remembered  for  awhile,  the  next  generations  will 
judge,  favorably  or  unfavorably,  according  to  the  complexion  of 
individual  minds,  and  side  they  shall  themselves  have  taken; 
that  nothing  new  can  be  added  by  you  or  me  to  what  has  been 
said  by  others,  and  will  be  said  in  every  age  in  support  of  the 
conflicting  opinions  on  government;  and  that  wisdom  and  duty 
dictate  an  humble  resignation  to  the  verdict  of  our  future  peers. 
(To  John  Adams,  1813.  C.  VI.,  143-146.) 

PARTY. — I  am  not  a  Federalist,  because  I  never  submitted 
the  whole  system  of  my  opinions  to  the  creed  of  any  party  of 
men  whatever,  in  religion,  in  philosophy,  in  politics,  or  in  any- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  335 

thing  else  where  I  was  capable  of  thinking"  for  myself.  Such  an 
addiction  is  the  last  degradation  of  a  free  and  moral  agent.  If 
I  could  not  go  to  heaven  but  with  a  party,  I  would  not  go  there 
at  all.  (To  Francis  Hopkinson,  1789.  F.  V.,  76.) 

PARTY  LOYALTY. — As  far  as  my  good  will,  may  go,  for  I  can 
no  longer  act,  I  shall  adhere  to  my  government,  executive  and 
legislative,  and,  as  long  as  they  are  Republican,  I  shall  go  with 
their  measures,  whether  I  think  them  right  or  wrong;  because 
I  know  they  are  honest,  and  are  wiser  and  better  informed  than 
I  am.  In  doing  this,  however,  I  shall  not  give  up  the  friendship 
of  those  who  differ  from  me,  and  who  have  equal  rights  with 
myself  to  shape  their  own  course.  (To  William  Duane,  1811. 
C.  V.,  592.) 

PARTY  SPIRIT. — You  and  I  have  formerly  seen  warm  debates 
and  high  political  passions.  But  gentlemen  of  different  politics 
would  then  speak  to  each  other  and  separate  the  business  of  the 
Senate  from  that  of  society.  It  is  not  so  now.  Men  who  have 
been  intimate  all  their  lives  cross  the  streets  to  avoid  meeting 
and  turn  their  heads  another  way  lest  they  should  be  obliged 
to  touch  their  hats.  This  may  do  for  young  men  with  whom 
passion  is  enjoyment,  but  it  is  afflicting  to  peaceable  minds. 
Tranquillity  is  the  old  man's  milk.  I  go  to  enjoy  it  in  a  few 
days,  and  to  exchange  the  roar  and  tumult  of  bulls  and  bears 
for  the  prattle  of  my  grandchildren  and  senile  rest.  (To  Edward 
Rutledge,  1797-  F.  VII.,  155.) 

PATENTS. — Certainly  an  inventor  ought  to  be  allowed  a  right 
to  the  benefit  of  his  invention  for  some  certain  time.  It  is 
equally  certain  it  ought  not  to  be  perpetual;  for  to  embarrass 
society  with  monopolies  for  every  utensil  existing,  and  in  all 
the  details  of  life,  would  be  more  injurious  to  them  than  had 
the  supposed  inventors  never  existed;  because  the  natural 
understanding  of  its  members  would  have  suggested  the  same 
things  or  others  as  good.  How  long  the  term  should  be  is  the 
difficult  question.  Our  legislators  have  copied  the  English 
estimate  of  the  term,  perhaps  without  sufficiently  considering 
how  much  longer,  in  a  country  so  much  more  sparsely  settled, 
it  takes  for  an  invention  to  become  known,  and  used  to  an 


336  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

extent  profitable  to  the  inventor.  Nobody  wishes  more  than  I 
do  that  ingenuity  should  receive  a  liberal  encouragement.  (To 
Oliver  Evans,  1807.  C.  V.,  75.) 

PATRONAGE.  —  One  thing  I  will  say  that  as  to  the  future,  inter 
ferences  with  elections,  whether  of  the  State  or  general  govern 
ment,  by  officers  of  the  latter,  should  be  denied  cause  of  removal; 
because  the  constitutional  remedy  by  the  elective  principle  be 
comes  nothing,  if  it  may  be  smothered  by  the  patronage  of  the 
general  government.  (To  Thomas  McKean,  1801.  F.  VII.  , 


PATRONAGE.  —  See  Offices. 

PEACE.  —  It  should  be  our  endeavor  to  cultivate  the  peace  and 
friendship  of  every  nation,  even  of  that  which  has  injured  us 
most,  when  we  shall  have  carried  our  point  against  her.  *  *  * 
Never  was  so  much  false  arithmetic  employed  on  any  subject, 
as  that  which  has  been  employed  to  persuade  nations  that  it  is 
their  interest  to  go  to  war.  Were  the  money  which  it  has  cost 
to  gain,  at  the  close  of  a  long  war,  a  little  town,  or  a  little 
territory,  the  right  to  cut  wood  here,  or  to  catch  fish  there, 
expended  in  improving  what  they  already  possess,  in  making 
roads,  opening  rivers,  building  ports,  improving  the  arts  and 
finding  employment  for  their  idle  poor,  it  would  render  them 
much  stronger,  much  wealthier  and  happier.  This  I  hope  will 
be  our  wisdom.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III., 
279.) 

PEACE.  —  We  love  and  we  value  peace  ;  we  know  its  blessings 
from  experience.  We  abhor  the  follies  of  war  and  are  not  united 
in  its  distresses  and  calamities.  (To  the  United  States  Com 
missioner  at  Spain,  1793.  F.  VI.,  338.) 

PEACE.  —  As  to  myself  I  love  peace,  and  I  am  anxious  that 
we  should  give  the  world  still  another  useful  lesson,  by  showing 
to  them  other  modes  of  punishing  injuries  than  by  war,  which  is 
as  much  a  punishment  to  the  punisher  as  to  the  sufferer.  I  love 
therefore  Mr.  Clarke's  proposition  of  cutting  off  all  communica 
tion  with  the  nation  which  has  conducted  itself  so  atrociously. 
This  you  will  say  may  bring  on  war.  If  it  does,  we  will  meet 
it  like  men;  but  it  may  not  bring  on  war,  and  then  the  experi- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  337 

ment  will  have  been  a  happy  one.    (To  Tench  Coxe,  1794- 
VI.,  508.) 

PEACE. — In  the  course  of  this  conflict  (referring  to  the 
Napoleonic  wars)  let  it  be  our  endeavor,  as  it  is  our  interest  and 
desire,  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  belligerent  nations  by 
every  act  of  justice  and  of  incessant  kindness;  to  receive  their 
armed  vessels  with  hospitality  from  the  distresses  of  the  sea, 
but  to  administer  the  means  of  annoyance  to  none;  to  establish 
in  our  harbors  such  a  police  as  may  maintain  law  and  order;  to 
restrain  our  citizens  from  embarking  individually  in  a  war  in 
which  their  country  takes  no  part;  to  punish  severely  those 
persons,  citizen  or  alien,  who  shall  usurp  the  cover  of  our  flag 
for  vessels  not  entitled  to  it,  infecting  thereby  with  suspicion 
those  of  real  Americans,  and  committing  us  into  controversies 
for  the  redress  of  wrongs  not  our  own;  to  exact  from  every 
nation  the  observance,  toward  our  vessels  and  citizens,  of  those 
principles  and  practices  which  all  civilized  people  acknowledge; 
to  merit  the  character  of  a  just  nation,  and  maintain  that  of  an 
independent  one,  preferring  every  consequence  to  insult  and 
habitual  wrong.  *  *  *  Separated  by  a  wide  ocean  from 
the  nations  of  Europe,  and  from  the  political  interests  which 
entangle  them  together,  with  productions  and  wants  which 
render  our  commerce  and  friendship  useful  to  them  and  theirs 
to  us,  it  cannot  be  the  interest  of  any  to  assail  us,  nor  ours 
to  disturb  them.  We  should  be  most  unwise,  indeed,  were  we 
to  cast  away  the  singular  blessings  of  the  position  in  \vhich 
nature  has  placed  us,  the  opportunity  she  has  endowed  us  with 
of  pursuing  at  a  distance  from  foreign  contentions,  the  paths  of 
industry,  peace  and  happiness;  of  cultivating  general  friendship, 
and  of  bringing  collisions  of  interest  to  the  umpirage  of  reason 
rather  than  of  force.  How  desirable  then  must  it  be,  in  a  gov 
ernment  like  ours,  to  see  its  citizens  adopt  individually  the 
views,  the  interests,  and  the  conduct  which  their  country  should 
pursue,  divesting  themselves  of  those  passions  and  partialities 
which  tend  to  lessen  useful  friendships,  and  to  embarrass  and 
embroil  us  in  the  calamitous  scenes  of  Europe.  (Third  Annual 
Message  to  Congress,  1803.  F.  VIII. ,  272.) 


338  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

PEACE. — Unmeddhng  with  the  affairs  of  other  nations,  we 
presume  not  to  prescribe  or  censure  their  course.  Happy,  could 
we  be  permitted  to  pursue  our  own  in  peace,  and  to  employ  all 
our  means  in  improving  the  condition  of  our  citizens.  Whether 
this  will  be  permitted,  is  more  doubtful  now  than  at  any  pre 
ceding  time.  We  have  borne  patiently  a  great  deal  of  wrong, 
on  the  consideration  that  if  nations  go  to  war  for  every  degree 
of  injury,  there  would  never  be  peace  on  earth.  But  when 
patience  has  begotten  false  estimates  of  its  motives,  when 
wrongs  are  pressed  because  it  is  believed  they  will  be  borne, 
resistance  becomes  morality.  (To  Madame  de  Stael,  1807. 
C.  V.,  133.) 

PEACE. — We  have,  therefore,  remained  in  peace,  suffering 
frequent  injuries,  but,  on  the  whole,  multiplying,  improving, 
prospering  beyond  all  example.  It  is  evident  to<  all,  that  in 
spite  of  great  losses  much  greater  gains  have  ensued.  When 
these  gladiators  shall  have  worried  each  other  into  ruin  or 
reason,  instead  of  lying  among  the  dead  on  the  bloody  arena, 
we  shall  have  acquired  a  growth  and  strength  which  will  place 
us  hors  d'insulte.  Peace  then  has  been  our  principle,  peace  is 
our  interest,  and  peace  has  saved  the  world  this  only  plant  of 
free  and  rational  government  now  existing  in  it.  If  it  can  still 
be  preserved,  we  shall  soon  see  the  final  extinction  of  our 
national  debt,  and  liberation  of  our  revenues  for  the  defence 
and  improvement  of  our  country.  *  *  *  However,  there 
fore,  we  may  have  been  reproached  for  pursuing  our  Quaker 
system,  time  will  affix  the  stamp  of  wisdom  on  it,  and  the 
happiness  and  prosperity  of  our  citizens  will  attest  its  merit. 
And  this,  I  believe,  is  the  only  legitimate  object  of  government, 
and  the  first  duty  of  governors,  and  not  the  slaughter  of  men 
and  devastation  of  the  countries  placed  under  their  care,  in 
pursuit  of  a  fantastic  honor,  unallied  to  virtue  or  happiness; 
or  in  gratification  of  the  angry  passions,  or  the  pride  of  adminis 
trators,  excited  by  personal  incidents,  in  which  their  citizens 
have  no  concern.  Some  merit  will  be  ascribed  to  the  converting 
such  times  of  destruction  into  times  of  growth  and  strength  for 
us.  (To  Kosciusko,  1811.  C.  V.,  585.) 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  339 

PEACE. — When  peace  becomes  more  losing  than  war,  we  may 
prefer  the  latter  on  principles  of  pecuniary  calculation.  But  for 
us  to  attempt,  by  war,  to  reform  all  Europe,  and  bring  them 
back  to  principles  of  morality  and  a  respect  for  the  equal  rights 
of  nations,  would  show  us  to  be  only  maniacs  of  another  char 
acter.  We  should,  indeed,  have  the  merit  of  the  good  inten 
tions  as  well  as  of  the  folly  of  the  hero  of  La  Mancha.  (To  Mr. 
Wirt.  C.  V.,  595.) 

PEACE  SPIRIT. — No  country  perhaps  was  ever  so<  thor 
oughly  against  war  as  ours.  These  dispositions  pervade  every 
description  of  its  citizens,  whether  in  or  out  of  office.  They 
cannot  perhaps  suppress  their  affections  or  their  wishes,  but 
they  will  suppress  the  effects  of  them  SO'  as  to  preserve  a  fair 
neutrality.  Indeed  we  shall  be  more  useful  (to  France)  than  as 
parties  by  the  protection  which  our  flag  will  give  to  the  supplies 
of  provision.  In  this  spirit  let  all  your  assurances  be  given  to 
the  government  with  which  you  reside.  (Instructions  to  the 
United  States  Minister  to  France,  1793.  F.  VI.,  217.) 

THE  PEOPLE. — I  am  myself  persuaded  that  the  good  sense  of 
the  people  will  always  be  found  to>  be  the  best  army.  They  may 
be  led  astray  for  a  moment,  but  will  soon  correct  themselves. 
The  people  are  the  only  censors  of  their  governors;  and  even 
their  errors  will  tend  to  keep  these  to>  the  true  principles  of  their 
institution.  To  punish  their  errors  too  severely  would  be  to 
suppress  the  only  safeguard  to  public  liberty.  (To-  Edward 
Carrington,  1787.  F.  IV.,  359.) 

PETITIONS. — For  ourselves,  we  have  exhausted  every  mode  of 
application  which  our  invention  could  suggest  as  proper  and 
promising.  We  have  decently  remonstrated  with  Parliament; 
they  have  added  new  injuries  to  the  old.  We  have  wearied  our 
King  with  applications;  he  has  not  deigned  to  answer  us.  We 
have  appealed  to  the  native  honor  and  justice  of  the  British 
nation.  Their  efforts  in  our  favor  have  hitherto  been  ineffectual. 
What  then  remains  to  be  done?  That  we  commit  our  injuries 
to  the  evenhanded  justice  of  the  Being  who  doth  no>  wrong, 
earnestly  beseeching  him  to  illuminate  the  counsels,  and  pros 
per  the  endeavors  of  those  to-  whom  America  hath  confided  her 


340  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

hopes,  that  through  their  wise  direction  we  may  again  see  re 
united  the  blessings  of  liberty,  property,  and  harmony  with 
Great  Britain.  (From  an  address  to  Governor  Dunmore  of 
Virginia,  1775.  F.  I.,  459.) 

PHILOSOPHERS.  —  I  am  satisfied  there  is  an  order  of  geniuses 
above  that  obligation  (of  government)  and  therefore  exempted 
from  it;  nobody  can  conceive  that  nature  ever  intended  to 
throw  away  a  Newton  upon  the  occupation  of  a  crown.  It 
would  have  been  a  prodigality  for  which  even  the  conduct  of 
Providence  might  have  been  arraigned,  had  he  been  by  birth 
annexed  to  what  was  so  far  below  him.  Co-operating  with 
nature  in  her  ordinary  economy  we  should  dispose  of  and  em 
ploy  the  geniuses  of  men  according  to  their  several  orders  and 
degrees.  I  doubt  not  there  are  in  your  country  many  persons 
equal  to  the  task  of  conducting  government;  but  you  should 
consider  that  the  world  has  but  one  Rittenhouse  and  that  it 
never  had  one  before.  (To  David  Rittenhouse,  1778.  F.  II. 


PLATO.  —  Education  is  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  persons  who, 
from  their  profession,  have  an  interest  in  the  reputation  and 
dreams  of  Plato.  They  give  the  tone  while  at  school,  and  few  in 
their  after  years  have  occasion  to  revise  their  college  opinions. 
But  fashion  and  authority  apart,  and  bringing  Plato  to  the  test 
of  reason,  take  from  him  his  sophisms,  futilities  and  incompre 
hensibilities,  and  what  remains?  In  truth,  he  is  one  of  the  race 
of  genuine  sophists,  who  has  escaped  the  oblivion  of  his  breth 
ren,  first,  by  the  elegance  of  his  diction,  but  chiefly,  by  the 
adoption  and  incorporation  of  his  whimsies  into  the  body  of 
artificial  Christianity.  His  foggy  mind  is  forever  presenting 
the  semblances  of  objects  which,  half  seen  through  a  mist,  can 
be  defined  neither  in  form  nor  dimensions.  Yet  this,  which 
should  have  consigned  him,  to  early  oblivion,  really  procured 
him  immortality  of  fame  and  reverence.  The  Christian  priest 
hood,  finding  the  doctrines  of  Christ  levelled  to  every  under 
standing,  and  too  plain  to  need  explanation,  saw  in  the  mysti 
cism  of  Plato  materials  with  which  they  might  build  up  an 
artificial  system,  which  might,  from  its  indistinctness,  admit 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  341 

everlasting  controversy,  give  employment  for  their  order,  and 
introduce  it  to  profit,  power  and  pre-eminence.  The  doctrines 
which  flowed  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  himself  are  within  the  com 
prehension  of  a  child;  but  thousands  of  volumes  have  not  yet 
explained  the  Platonisms  engrafted  on  them;  and  for  this  ob 
vious  reason,  that  nonsense  cannot  be  explained.  Their  pur 
poses,  however,  are  answered.  Plato  is  canonized;  and  it  is 
now  deemed  as  impious  to  question  his  merits  as  those  of  an 
Apostle  of  Jesus.  He  is  peculiarly  appealed  to  as  an  advocate 
of  the  immortality  of  the  soul;  and  yet  I  will  venture  to  say, 
that  were  there  no  better  arguments  than  his  in  proof  of  it,  not 
a  man  in  the  world  would  believe  it.  It  is  fortunate  for  us,  that 
Platonic  Republicanism  has  not  obtained  the  same  favor  as 
Platonic  Christianity;  or  we  should  now  have  been  all  living, 
men,  women  and  children,  pell  mell  together,  like  beasts  of  the 
field  or  forest.  Yet  "Plato  is  a  great  philosopher,"  said  La 
Fontaine.  But,  says  Fontenelle,  "Do  you  find  his  ideas  very 
clear?"  "Oh  no!  he  is  of  an  obscurity  impenetrable."  "Do 
you  not  find  him  full  of  contradictions?"  "Certainly,"  replied  La 
Fontaine,  "he  is  but  a  sophist."  Yet,  immediately  after,  he 
exclaims  again,  "Oh,  Plato  was  a  great  philosopher."  Socrates 
had  reason,  indeed,  to  complain  of  the  misrepresentations  of 
Plato;  for  in  truth,  his  dialogues  are  libels  on  Socrates.  (To 
John  Adams,  1814.  C.  VI.,  354.) 

-  PLEASURE. — Do  not  bite  at  the  bait  of  pleasure  until  you  know 
there  is  no  hook  beneath  it.  The  art  of  life  is  the  art  oP 
avoiding  pain;  and  he  is  the  best  pilot  who  steers  clearest  of  the 
rocks  and  shoals  with  which  he  is  beset.  Pleasure  is  always 
before  us;  but  misfortune  is  at  our  side;  while  running  after 
that,  this  arrests  us.  The  most  effectual  means  of  being  secure 
against  pain  is  to  retire  within  ourselves,  and  to  suffice  with  our 
own  happiness.  These,  which  depend  on  ourselves,  are  the 
only  pleasures  a  wise  man  will  count  on;  for  nothing  is  ours 
which  another  may  deprive  us  of.  (To  Mrs.  Maria  Cosway,/ 
written  in  Paris,  1786.  F.  IV.,  318.) 

PLEASURES  OF  THE  INTELLECT. — Hence,  the  inestimable  value 
of  intellectual  pleasures.    Ever  in  our  powrer,  always  leading  us  to 


342  THE   LIFE  AND    WRITINGS 

something  new,  never  cloying  we  ride  serene  and  sublime  above 
the  concerns  of  this  mortal  world,  contemplating  truth  and 
nature,  matter  and  motion,  the  laws  which  bind  up  their  exist 
ence  and  that  Eternal  Being  who  made  and  bound  them  up  by 
these  laws.  (To  Mrs.  Maria  Cosway,  written  in  Paris,  1786. 
F.  IV.,  318.) 

PLEASURES. — We  are  not  immortal  ourselves,  my  friend,  how 
can  we  expect  our  enjoyments  to  be  so?  We  have  no  rose 
without  its  thorn,  no  pleasure  without  alloy.  It  is  the  law  of  our 
existence  and  we  must  acquiesce.  It  is  the  condition  annexed 
to  all  our  pleasures,  not  by  us  who  receive,  but  by  Him  who 
gives  them.  True,  this  condition  is  pressing  cruelly  upon  me  at 
this  moment.  I  feel  more  fit  for  death  than  life.  But  when  I 
look  back  upon  the  pleasures  of  which  it  is  the  consequence,  I 
am  conscious  they  were  worth  the  price  I  am  paying.  (To  Mrs. 
Maria  Cosway,  written  from  Paris,  1786.  F.  IV.,  321.) 

POETRY. — To  my  own  mortification  of  all  living  men,  I  am 
the  last  who  should  undertake  to  decide  as  to  the  merits  of 
poetry.  In  early  life  I  was  fond  of  it  and  easily  pleased.  But 
as  age  and  cares  advanced  the  powers  of  fancy  have  declined. 
Every  year  seems  to  have  plucked  a  feather  from  her  wings  till 
she  can  no  longer  waft  one  to  those  sublime  heights  to  which 
it  is  necessary  to  accompany  the  poet.  (To  John  Burke,  1801. 
F.  VIII.,  66.) 

POLITENESS. — I  have  mentioned  good  humor  as  one  o>f  the 
preservatives  of  our  peace  and  tranquillity.  It  is  among  the 
most  effectual,  and  its  effect  is  so  well  imitated  and  aided,  arti 
ficially,  by  politeness,  that  this  also  becomes  an  acquisition  of 
first  rate  value.  In  truth,  politeness  is  artificial  good  humor, 
it  covers  the  natural  want  of  it,  and  ends  by  rendering  habitual 
a  substitute  nearly  equivalent  to  the  real  virtue.  It  is  the 
practice  of  sacrificing  to  those  whom  we  meet  in  society,  all 
the  little  conveniences  and  preferences  which  will  gratify  them, 
and  deprive  us  of  nothing  worth  a  moment's  consideration;  it 
is  the  giving  a  pleasure  and  flattering  turn  to  our  expressions, 
which  will  conciliate  others,  and  make  them  pleased  with  us 
as  well  as  themselves.  How  cheap  a  price  for  the  good  will  of 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  343 

another !  When  this  is  in  return  for  a  rude  thing  said  by  another, 
it  brings  him  to  his  senses,  it  mortifies  and  corrects  him  in  the 
most  salutary  way,  and  places  him  at  the  feet  of  your  good 
nature,  in  the  eyes  of  the  company.  (To  T.  J.  Randolph,  1808. 
C.  V.,  389.) 

THE  POOR  VISITED. — To  do  it  most  effectually,  you  must  be 
absolutely  incognito,  you  must  ferret  the  people  out  of  their 
hovels  as  I  have  done,  look  into  their  kettles,  eat  their  bread, 
loll  on  their  beds  under  pretense  of  resting  yourself,  but  in  fact 
to  find  if  they  are  soft.  You  will  feel  a  sublime  pleasure  in  the 
course  of  this  investigation,  and  a  sublimer  one  hereafter,  when 
you  shall  be  able  to  apply  your  knowledge  to  the  softening  of 
their  beds,  or  the  throwing  a  morsel  of  meat  into  their  kettle  of 
vegetables.  (To  La  Fayette,  1787.  C.  II.,  136.) 

POWER. — An  honest  man  can  feel  no  pleasure  in  the  exercise 
of  power  over  his  fellow  citizens.  And  considering  as  the  only 
offices  of  power  those  conferred  by  the  people  directly,  that  is  to 
say,  the  executive  and  legislative  functions  of  the  general  and 
the  State  governments,  the  common  refusal  of  these,  and  multi 
plied  resignations,  are  proofs  sufficient  that  power  is  not  allur 
ing  to  pure  minds,  and  is  not,  with  them,  the  primary  principle 
of  contest.  This  is  my  belief  of  it;  it  is  that  on  which  I  have 
acted;  and  had  it  been  a  mere  contest  who  should  be  permitted 
to  administer  the  government  according  to  its  genuine  Repub 
lican  principles,  there  has  never  been  a  moment  of  my  life  in 
which  I  should  have  relinquished  for  it  the  enjoyment  of  my 
family,  my  poems,  my  friends  and  books.  (To  Mr.  Melish, 
1813.  C.  VI.,  96.) 

POWER. — I  wish  that  all  nations  may  recover  and  retain  their 
independence;  that  those  which  are  overgrown  may  not  advance 
beyond  safe  measures  of  power,  that  a  salutary  balance  may  be 
ever  maintained  among  nations,  and  that  our  peace,  commerce, 
and  friendship  may  be  sought  and  cultivated  by  all.  It  is  our 
business  to  manufacture  for  ourselves  whatever  we  can,  to  keep 
our  markets  op-en  for  what  we  can  spare  or  want;  and  the  less 
we  have  to  do  with  the  amities  and  enmities  of  Europe,  the 
better.  Not  in  our  day,  but  in  no  distant  one,  we  may  shake  a 


344  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

rod  over  the  heads  of  all,  which  may  make  the  stoutest  of  them 
tremble.  But  I  hope  our  wisdom  will  grow  with  our  power, 
and  teach  us,  that  the  less  we  use  o>ur  power,  the  greater  it  will 
be.  (To  Mr.  Leiper,  1815.  C.  VI.,  464.) 

PRESBYTERIANS. — Presbyterian  spirit  is  known  to  be  so  con 
genial  with  friendly  liberty,  that  the  patriots  after  the  restora 
tion,  finding  that  the  humor  of  the  people  was  running  too 
strongly  to  exalt  the  prerogative  of  the  crown,  promoted  the 
dissenting  interest  as  a  check  and  balance,  and  thus  was  pro 
duced  the  Toleration  Act.  (From  notes  on  Religion,  1776. 
F.  II.,  98.) 

PRESBYTERIANS. — The  Presbyterian  clergy  are  the  most  intol 
erant  of  all  sects,  the  most  tyrannical  and  ambitious;  ready  at 
the  word  of  the  lawgiver,  if  such  a  word  could  now  be  obtained, 
to  put  the  torch  to  the  pile,  and  to>  rekindle  in  the  virgin  hemi 
sphere  the  flames  in  which  their  oracle  Calvin  consumed  the  poor 
Seryetus,  because  he  could  not  find  in  his  Euclid  the  proposition 
which  has  demonstrated  that  three  are  one  and  one  is  three, 
nor  subscribe  to  that  Calvin,  that  magistrates  have  a  right  to 
exterminate  ail  heretics  to  Calvinistic  creed.  They  pant  to  re 
establish,  by  law,  that  holy  inquisition,  which  they  can  now  only 
infuse  into  public  opinion.  (To  William  Short,  1820.  C.  VII., 

157.) 

PRESBYTERIANISM. — I  had  no  idea  that  in  Pennsylvania,  the 
cradle  of  toleration  and  freedom  of  religion,  it  could  have  arisen 
to  the  height  you  describe.  This  must  be  owing  to  the  growth 
of  Presbyterians.  The  blasphemy  and  absurdity  of  the  five 
points  of  Calvin,  and  the  impossibility  of  defending  them,  ren 
der  their  advocates  impatient  of  reasoning,  irritable  and  prone 
to  denunciation.  *  *  *  Systematical  in  grasping  at  an 
ascendency  over  all  other  sects,  Presbyterians  aim,  like  the 
Jesuits,  at  engrossing  the  education  of  the  country,  are  hostile 
to  every  institution  which  they  do  not  direct,  and  jealous  at 
seeing  others  begin  to  attend  at  all  to  that  object.  (To  Dr. 
Cooper,  1822.  C.  VII.,  266.) 

THE  PRESIDENCY. — I  own  I  like  what  Luther  Martin  tells  us 
was  repeatedly  voted  and  adhered  to  by  the  Federal  conven- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  345 

tion,  and  only  altered  about  twelve  days  before  their  rising 
when  some  members  had  gone  off,  to  wit,  that  he  (the  Presi 
dent)  should  be  elected  for  seven  years  and  incapable  for  ever 
after.  (To  William  Short,  written  from  Paris,  1788.  F.  V.,  49.) 

THE  PRESIDENCY. — The  first  wish  of  my  heart  was  that  you 
should  have  been  proposed  for  the  administration  of  the  gov 
ernment.  On  your  declining  it,  I  wish  anybody  other  than 
myself:  and  there  is  nothing  I  so  anxiously  hope,  as  that  my 
name  may  come  out  either  second  or  third.  These  would  be 
indifferent  to  me;  as  the  last  would  leave  me  at  home  the  whole 
year,  and  the  other  two-thirds  of  it.  (To  James  Madison,  1793. 
F.  VII.,  91.) 

THE  PRESIDENCY. — You  have  seen  my  name  lately  tacked  so 
much  to  eulogy  and  abuse  that  I  dare  say  you  hardly  thought 
it  meant  your  old  acquaintance  of  '76.  In  truth,  I  did  not  know 
myself  under  the  pens  either  of  my  friends  or  foes.  It  is  unfor 
tunate  for  our  peace  that  unmerited  abuse  wounds  while 
unmerited  praise  has  not  the  power  to  heal.  These  are  hard 
wages  for  the  services  of  all  the  activity  and  healthy  years  of 
one's  life.  I  had  retired  after  five  and  twenty  years  of  constant 
occupation  in  public  affairs  and  total  abandonment  of  my  own. 
I  retired  much  poorer  than  when  I  entered  the  public  sendee, 
and  desired  nothing  but  rest  and  oblivion.  My  name,  however, 
was  again  brought  forward  without  consent  or  expectation  on 
my  part  (on  my  salvation  I  declare  it).  *  *  *  On  prin 
ciples  of  public  respect  I  should  not  have  refused;  but  I  protest 
before  my  God  that  I  shall  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  rejoice 
at  escaping.  *  *  *  I  have  no  ambition  to  govern  men; 
no  passion  which  would  lead  me  to*  delight  to  ride  in  a  storm. 
Flumina  amo  sylvasque  inglorius.  (To  Edward  Rutiedge,  1796. 
F.  VII.,  93.) 

PRESIDENCY. — My  opinion  originally  was  that  the  President 
of  the  United  States  should  have  been  elected  for  seven  years, 
and  forever  ineligible  afterwards.  I  have  since  become  sensible 
that  seven  years  is  too  long  to  be  irremovable,  and  that  there 
Bhould  be  a  peaceable  way  of  withdrawing  a  man  in  midway 
•who  is  doing  wrong.  The  sendee  for  eight  years  with  a  power 


346  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

to  remove  at  the  end  of  the  first  four,  comes  nearly  to  my 
principle  as  corrected  by  experience.  And  it  is  in  adherence 
to  that  that  I  am  determined  to  withdraw  at  the  end  of  my 
second  term.  The  danger  is  that  the  indulgence  and  attach 
ments  of  the  people  will  keep  a  man  in  the  chair  after  he  be 
comes  a  dotard,  that  re-election  through  life  shall  become 
habitual,  and  election  for  life  follow  that.  General  Washington 
set  the  example  of  voluntary  retirement  after  eight  years.  I 
shall  follow  it,  and  a  few  more  precedents  will  oppose  the 
obstacle  of  habit  to  anyone  after  a  while  who  shall  endeavor 
to  extend  his  term.  Perhaps  it  may  beget  a  disposition  to 
establish  it  by  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution.  I  believe 
I  am  doing  right,  therefore,  in  pursuing  my  principle.  I  had 
determined  to  declare  my  intention,  but  I  have  consented  to  be 
silent  on  the  opinion  of  friends,  who  think  it  best  not  to  put  a 
continuance  out  of  my  power  in  defiance  of  all  circumstances. 
There  is,  however,  but  one  circumstance  which  could  engage 
my  acquiescence  in  another  election,  to  wit,  such  a  division 
about  a  successor  as  might  bring  in  a  Monarchist.  But  this 
circumstance  is  impossible.  While,  therefore,  I  shall  make  no 
formal  declarations  to  the  public  of  my  purpose,  I  have  freely 
let  it  be  understood  in  private  conversation.  In  this  I  am 
persuaded  yourself  and  my  friends  generally  will  approve  of  my 
views;  and  should  I  at  the  end  of  a  second  term  carry  into 
retirement  all  the  favor  which  the  first  has  acquired,  I  shall  feel 
the  consolation  of  having  done  all  the  good  in  my  power,  and 
expect  with  more  than  composure  the  termination  of  a  life  no 
longer  valuable  to  others  or  of  importance  to  myself.  (To 
John  Taylor,  1805.  F.  VIIL,  339.) 

PRESIDENTIAL  TOURS. — I  confess  that  I  am  not  reconciled  to 
the  idea  of  a  chief  magistrate  parading  himself  through  the 
several  States,  as  an  object  of  public  gaze,  and  in  quest  of  an 
applause  which,  to  be  valuable,  should  be  purely  voluntary. 
I  had  rather  acquire  silent  good  will  by  a  faithful  discharge  of 
my  duties,  than  owe  expressions  of  it  to  my  putting  myself  in 
the  way  of  receiving  them.  Were  I  to  make  such  a  tour  to 
Portsmouth  or  Portland,  I  must  do  it  to  Savannah,  perhaps 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  347 

to  Orleans  and  Frankfort.  As  I  have  never  yet  seen  the  time 
when  the  public  business  would  have  permitted  me  to  be  so 
long  in  a  situation  in  which  I  could  carry  it  on,  so  I  have  no 
reason  to  expect  that  such  a  time  will  come  while  I  remain  in 
office.  A  journey  to  Boston  or  Portsmouth,  after  I  shall  be  a 
private  citizen,  would  much  better  harmonize  with  my  feelings, 
as  well  as  duties;  and,  founded  in  curiosity,  would  give  no 
claims  to  an  extension  of  it.  I  should  see  my  friends,  too,  more 
at  our  mutual  ease,  and  be  left  more  exclusively  to  their  society. 
(To  Governor  Sullivan,  1807.  C.  V.,  102.) 
.^THE  PRESS. — No  Government  ought  to  be  without  censors; 
^and  when  the  press  is  free,  no  one  ever  will.  Nature  has  given 
to  man  no  other  means  of  sifting  out  the  truth  either  in  religion, 
law  or  politics.  I  think  it  as  honorable  to  the  government 
neither  to  know  nor  notice  its  sycophants  or  censors  as  it  would 
be  undignified  and  criminal  to  pamper  the  former  and  persecute 
the  latter.  (To  Washington,  1792.  F.  VI.,  108.) 

PRIESTLY,  JOSEPH. — Yours  is  one  of  the  few  lives  precious 
to  mankind,  and  for  the  continuance  of  which  every  thinking 
man  is  solicitous.  Bigots  may  be  an  exception.  *  *  * 
Those  who  live  by  mystery  and  charlatanerie  fearing  you  would 
render  them  useless  by  simplifying  the  Christian  philosophy — 
the  most  sublime  and  benevolent  but  most  perverted  system 
that  ever  shone  on  man — endeavored  to  crush  your  well-earnt 
and  well-deserved  fame.  But  it  was  the  Liliputians  upon  Gul 
liver.  Our  countrymen  have  recovered  from  the  alarm  into 
which  art  and  industry  had  thrown  them;  science  and  honesty 
are  replaced  on  their  high  ground;  and  you,  my  dear  sir,  as 
their  great  apostle,  are  on  its  pinnacle.  (To  Joseph  Priestly, 
1801.  F.  VIII.,  21.) 

PRINCE  OF  WALES  (Afterward  George  IV.). — As  the  charac 
ter  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  is  becoming  interesting  I  have  endeav 
ored  to  learn  what  it  truly  is.  *  *  *  He  has  not  a  single 
element  of  mathematics  or  moral  philosophy,  or  any  other 
science  on  earth,  nor  has  the  society  he  has  left  been  such  as  to 
supply  the  void  of  education.  It  has  been  that  of  the  lowest, 
the  most  illiterate  and  profligate  persons  of  the  kingdom,  with- 


348  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

out  choice  of  rank  or  mind,  and  with  whom  the  subjects  of 
conversation  are  only  horses,  drinking-matches,  bawdy-houses, 
and  in  terms  most  vulgar.  In  fact,  he  never  associated  with  a 
man  of  sense.  He  has  not  a  single  idea  of  justice,  morality, 
religion,  or  of  the  rights  of  men  or  any  anxiety  for  the  opinion 
of  the  world.  He  carries  that  indifference  for  fame  so  far,  that 
he  probably  would  not  be  hurt  if  he  was  to  lose  his  throne, 
provided  he  could  be  assured  of  having  always  meat,  horses 
and  women.  (To  John  Jay,  written  in  Paris,  1789.  F.  V.,  62.) 
..PROFESSION  OF  POLITICAL  FAITH. — I  do  with  sincere  zeal  wish 
n  inviolable  preservation  of  our  present  Federal  Constitution, 
according  to  the  true  sense  in  which  it  was  adopted  by  the 
States,  that  in  which  it  was  advocated  by  its  friends,  and  not  that 
which  its  enemies  apprehended,  who  therefore  became  its  ene 
mies;  and  I  am  opposed  to  the  monarchising  its  features  by 
the  forms  of  its  administration  with  a  view  to  conciliate  a  first 
transition  to  a  President  and  Senate  for  life,  and  from  that  to  a 
hereditary  tenure  of  these  offices  and  thus  to  worm  out  the 
elective  principle.  I  am  for  preserving  to  the  States  the  powers 
not  yielded  by  them  to  the  Union,  and  to  the  Legislature  of 
the  Union  its  constitutional  share  in  the  division  of  the  powers; 
and  I  am  not  for  transferring  all  the  powers  of  the  States  to 
the  general  government,  and  all  those  of  that  government  to 
the  executive  branch.  I  am  for  a  government  rigorously 
frugal  and  simple,  applying  all  the  possible  savings  of  the  public 
revenue  to  the  discharge  of  the  national  debt,  and  not  for  a 
multiplication  of  officers  and  salaries  merely  to  make  partisans 
and  for  increasing  by  every  device  the  public  debt  on  the  prin 
ciple  of  its  being  a  public  blessing.  I  am  for  relying,  for  internal 
defense,  on  our  militia  solely,  till  actual  invasion,  and  for  such 
a  naval  force  only  as  may  protect  our  coasts  and  harbors  from 
such  depredations  as  we  have  experienced;  and  not  for  a  stand 
ing  army  in  time  of  peace,  which  may  overawe  the  public  sen 
timent;  nor  for  a  navy  which  by  its  own  expenses  and  the 
external  wars  in  which  it  will  implicate  us,  will  grind  us  with 
public  burthens  and  sink  us  under  them.  I  am  for  free  com 
merce  with  all  nations;  political  connection  with  none;  and 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  349 

little  or  no  diplomatic  establishment.  And  I  am  not  for  linking 
ourselves  by  new  treaties  with  the  generals  of  Europe;  entering 
that  field  of  slaughter  to  preserve  their  balance,  or  joining  in 
the  confederacy  of  kings  to  war  against  the  principles  of  liberty. 
I  am  for  freedom  of  religion  and  against  all  manoeuvres  to  bring 
about  a  legal  ascendency  of  one  sect  over  another;  for  freedom 
of  the  press  and  against  all  violations  of  the  Constitution  to 
silence  by  force  and  not  by  reason  the  complaints  or  criticisms 
just  or  unjust  of  our  citizens  against  the  conduct  of  their  agents. 
And  I  am  for  encouraging  the  progress  of  science  in  all  its 
branches;  and  not  for  raising  a  hue  and  cry  against  the  sacred 
name  of  philosophy;  for  awing  the  human  mind  by  stories  of 
raw-head  and  bloody  bones  to  a  distrust  of  its  own  vision  and  to 
rely  implicitly  on  that  of  others;  to  go  backward  instead  of 
forward  to  look  for  improvement;  to  believe  that  government, 
religion,  morality,  and  every  other  science  were  in  the  highest 
perfection  in  ages  of  the  darkest  ignorance  and  that  nothing 
can  ever  be  devised  more  perfect  than  what  was  established  by 
our  forefathers.  To  these  I  will  add  that  I  was  a  sincere  well- 
wisher  to  the  success  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  still  wish 
it  may  end  in  the  establishment  of  a  free  and  well-ordered 
republic;  but  I  have  not  been  insensible  to  the  atrocious  depre 
dations  they  have  committed  on  our  commerce.  The  first 
object  of  my  heart  is  my  own  country.  In  that  is  embarked  my 
family,  my  fortune,  and  my  own  existence.  I  have  not  one 
farthing  of  interest  nor  one  fibre  of  attachment  out  of  it,  nor  a 
single  motive  of  preference  of  any  one  nation  to  another  but  in 
proportion  as  they  are  more  or  less  friendly  to  us.  (To  Elbridge 
Gerry,  1799.  F.  VII. ,  327'329-) 

PROGRESS. — The  Gothic  idea  that  we  are  to  look  backwards 
instead  of  forwards  for  the  improvement  of  the  human  mind, 
and  to  recur  to  the  annals  of  our  ancestors  for  what  is  not 
perfect  in  government,  in  religion  and  in  learning  is  worthy  of 
those  bigots  in  religion  and  government  by  whom  it  has  been 
recommended  and  whose  purposes  it  would  answer.  But  it  is  not 
an  idea  which  this  country  will  endure.  (To  Joseph  Priestly, 
1800.  F.  VII.,  416.) 


350  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

PROTECTION. — The  Government  of  the  United  States,  at  a  very 
early  period,  when  establishing  its  tariff  on  foreign  importations, 
were  very  much  guided  in  their  selection  of  objects  by  a  desire 

to  encourage  manufactures  within  ourselves.  (To , 

1821.  C.  VII.,  220.) 

PROTECTION. — I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  it  may  not  be  for 
the  general  interest  to  foster  for  a  while  certain  infant  manu 
factures  until  they  are  strong  enough  to  stand  against  foreign 
rivals;  but  when  evident  that  they  will  never  be  so,  it  is  against 
right,  to  make  the  other  branches  of  industry  support  them. 
(To  Samuel  Smith,  1823.  C.  VII.,  285.) 

PUBLIC  OPINION. — I  cannot  decide  between  Andrew  Alex 
ander,  John  Alexander,  and  John  Camphers,  recommended  by 
different  persons  for  the  marshal's  office.  Pray  write  me  your 
opinion  which  appointment  would  be  most  respected  by  the 
public,  for  that  circumstance  is  not  only  generally  the  best 
criterion  of  what  is  best,  but  the  public  respect  can  alone  give 
strength  to  the  government.  (To  Archibald  Stuart,  1801.  F. 
VIII.,  47-) 

PUBLIC  OPINION. — It  will  always  be  interesting  to  me  to  know 
the  impression  made  by  any  particular  thing  on  the  public  mind. 
My  idea  is  that  when  two  measures  are  equally  right,  it  is  a 
duty  of  the  people  to  adopt  that  one  which  is  most  agreeable 
to  them;  and  where  a  measure  not  agreeable  to  them  has  been 
adopted,  it  is  desirable  to  know  it,  because  it  is  an  admonition  to 
a  review  of  that  measure  to  see  if  it  has  been  really  right,  and 
to  correct  it  if  mistaken.  It  is  rare  that  the  public  sentiment 
decides  universally  or  unwisely,  and  the  individual  who  differs 
from  it  ought  to  distrust  and  examine  well  his  own  opinion. 
(To  William  Findley,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  27.) 

PUBLIC  SERVICE. — It  is  not  for  an  individual  to  choose  his 
post.  You  are  to  marshal  us  as  may  be  best  for  the  public 
good ;  and  it  is  only  in  the  case  of  its  being  indifferent  to  you, 
that  I  would  avail  myself  of  the  opinion  you  have  so  kindly 
offered  me  in  your  letter.  If  you  think  it  better  to  transfer  me  to 
another  post,  my  inclination  must  be  no  obstacle;  nor  shall 
it  be  if  there  is  any  desire  to  suppress  the  office  I  now  hold  or  to 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  351 

/ 

reduce  its  grade.  In  either  of  these  cases,  be  so  good  as  only 
to  signify  to  me  your  ultimate  wish,  and  I  will  conform  to  it 
accordingly.  If  it  should  be  to  remain  in  New  York,  my  chief 
comfort  will  be  to  work  under  your  eye,  my  only  shelter  the 
authority  of  your  name,  and  the  wisdom  of  measures  to  be 
dictated  by  you  and  implicitly  executed  by  me.  (To  Wash 
ington,  in  reply  to  an  offer  of  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State, 
1789.  F.  V.,  141.) 

PUBLIC  SERVICE. — The  happiest  moments  of  my  life  have  been 
the  few  which  I  have  passed  at  home  in  the  bosom  of  my  family. 
Employment  anywhere  else  is  a  mere  (?)  of  time;  it  is  burning 
the  candle  of  life  in  perfect  waste  for  the  individual  himself. 
I  have  no  complaint  against  anybody.  I  have  had  more  of  the 
confidence  of  my  country  than  my  share.  I  only  say  that  public 
employment  contributes  neither  to  advantage  or  happiness.  It 
is  but  honorable  exile  from  one's  family  and  affairs.  (To 
Francis  Willis,  1790.  F.  V.,  157.) 

THE  PULPIT. — Whenever  preachers,  instead  of  a  lesson  in 
religion,  put  them  off  with  a  discourse  on  the  Copernican 
system,  on  chemical  affinities,  on  the  construction  of  govern 
ment,  or  the  characters  or  conduct  of  those  administering  it, 
it  is  a  breach  of  contract,  depriving  their  audience  of  the  kind 
of  sendee  for  which  they  are  salaried,  and  giving  them,  instead 
of  it,  what  they  did  not  want,  or  if  wanted,  would  rather  seek 
from  better  sources  in  that  particular  art  or  science.  In  choos 
ing  our  pastor  we  look  to  his  religious  qualifications,  without 
inquiring  into  his  physical  or  political  dogmas,  with  which  we 
mean  to  have  nothing  to  do.  I  am  aware  that  arguments  may 
be  found  which  may  twist  a  thread  of  politics  into  the  cord  of 
religious  duties.  So  may  they  for  every  other  branch  of  human 
art  or  science.  Thus,  for  example,  it  is  a  religious  duty  to 
obey  the  laws  of  our  country;  the  teacher  of  religion,  there 
fore,  must  instruct  us  in  those  laws,  that  we  may  know  how  to 
obey  them.  It  is  a  religious  duty  to  assist  our  sick  neighbors; 
the  preacher  must,  therefore,  teach  us  medicine,  that  we  may 
do  it  understandingly.  It  is  a  religious  duty  to  preserve  our 
own  health;  our  religious  teacher,  then,  must  tell  us  what  dishes 


, 


352  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

are  wholesome,  and  give  us  recipes  in  cookery,  that  we  may 
learn  how  to  prepare  them.  And  so*,  ingenuity,  by  generalizing 
more  and  more,  may  amalgamate  all  the  branches  of  science 
into  any  one  of  them,  and  the  physician  who  is  paid  to  visit 
the  sick,  may  give  a  sermon  instead  of  medicine,  and  the  mer 
chant  to  whom  money  is  sent  for  a  hat,  may  send  a  handkerchief 
instead  of  it.  But  notwithstanding  this  possible  confusion  of  all 
sciences  into  one,  common  sense  draws  lines  between  them  suf 
ficiently  distinct  for  the  general  purposes  of  life,  and  no  one 
is  at  a  loss  to  understand  that  a  recipe  in  medicine  or  cookery, 
or  a  demonstration  in  geometry,  is  not  a  lesson  in  religion.  I 
do  not  deny  that  a  congregation  may,  if  they  please,  agree  with 
their  preacher  that  he  shall  instruct  them  in  medicine  also,  or 
law,  or  politics.  Then  lectures  in  these,  from  the  pulpit,  become 
not  only  a  matter  of  right,  but  of  duty  also.  But  this  must  be 
with  the  consent  of  every  individual;  because  the  association 
being  voluntary,  the  mere  majority  has  no  right  to  apply  the 
contributions  of  the  minority  to  purposes  unspecified  in  the 
agreement  of  the  congregation.  (To  Mr.  Wendover,  1815. 
C.  VL,  4450 

PUNISHMENT. — Any  officer  or  soldier,  guilty  of  mutiny,  de 
sertion,  disobedience  of  command,  absence  from  duty  or  quar 
ters,  neglect  of  guard,  or  cowardice,  shall  be  punished  at  the 
discretion  of  a  court-martial  by  degrading,  cashiering,  drum 
ming  out  of  the  army,  whipping  not  exceeding  20  lashes,  fine 
not  exceeding  two  months,  or  imprisonment  not  exceeding  one 
month.  (From  the  draft  of  a  bill  providing  against  invasions, 
1777.  F.  II.,  127.) 

PUNISHMENTS. — It  frequently  happens  that  wicked  and  disso 
lute  men,  resigning  themselves  to  the  dominion  of  inordinate 
passions,  commit  violations  on  the  lives,  liberties,  and  property 
of  others,  and  the  secure  enjoyments  of  these  having  principally 
induced  men  to  enter  into  society,  government  would  be  defec 
tive  in  its  principal  purpose  were  it  not  to  restrain  such  criminal 
acts  by  inflicting  due  punishments  on  those  who  perpetrate 
them.  (From  a  bill  relating  to  crimes  and  punishments,  1779. 
F.  II.,  204.) 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  353 

QUAKERS. — You  observe  very  truly,  that  both  the  late  and 
present  administration  conducted  the  government  on  principles 
professed  by  the  Friends.  Our  efforts  to  preserve  peace,  our 
measures  as  to  the  Indians,  as  to  slavery,  as  to  religious  freedom, 
were  all  in  consonance  with  their  profession.  Yet  I  never  ex 
pected  we  should  get  a  vote  from  them,  and  in  this  I  was  neither 
deceived  nor  disappointed.  There  is  no  riddle  in  this  to  those 
who  do  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  duped  by  the  professions  of 
religious  sectaries.  The  theory  of  American  Quakerism  is  a 
very  obvious  one.  The  mother  society  is  in  England.  Its 
members  are  English  by  birth  and  residence,  devoted  to  their 
own  country  as  good  citizens  ought  to  be.  The  Quakers  of 
these  States  are  colonies  or  filiations  from  the  mother  society,  to 
whom  that  society  sends  its  yearly  lessons.  On  these,  the 
filiated  societies  model  their  opinions,  their  conduct,  their  pas 
sions  and  attachments.  A  Quaker  is  essentially  an  Englishman, 
in  whatever  part  of  the  earth  he  is  born  or  lives.  The  outrages 
of  Great  Britain  on  our  navigation  and  commerce,  have  kept  us 
in  perpetual  bickerings  with  her.  The  Quakers  here  have  taken 
sides  against  their  own  government,  not  on  their  profession 
of  peace,  for  they  saw  that  peace  was  our  object  also;  but  from 
devotion  to  the  views  of  the  mother  society.  In  1797-8,  when 
an  administration  sought  war  with  France,  the  Quakers  were 
the  most  clamorous  for  war.  Their  principle  of  peace,  as  a 
secondary  one,  yielded  to  the  primary  one  of  adherence  to  the 
Friends  in  England,  and  what  was  patriotism  in  the  original, 
became  treason  in  the  copy.  On  that  occasion,  they  obliged 
their  good  old  leader,  Mr.  Pemberton,  to  erase  his  name  from 
a  petition  to  Congress  against  war,  which  had  been  delivered 
to  a  Representative  of  Pennsylvania,  a  member  of  the  late  and 
present  administration;  he  accordingly  permitted  the  old  gentle 
man  to  erase  his  name.  You  must  not  therefore  expect  that 
your  book  will  have  any  more  effect  on  the  Society  of  Friends 
here,  than  on  the  English  merchants  settled  among  us.  I  apply 
this  to  the  Friends  in  general,  not  universally.  I  know  individ 
uals  among  them  as  good  patriots  as  we  have.  (To  Samuel 
Kercheval,  1810.  C.  V.,  492.) 


354 


THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 


QUAKERS. — Delaware  is  essentially  a  Quaker  State,  the  frag 
ment  of  a  religious  sect  which,  there,  in  the  other  States,  in 
England,  are  a  homogeneous  mass,  acting  with  one  mind,  and 
that  directed  by  the  mother  society  in  England.  Dispersed,  as 
the  Jews,  they  still  form,  as  those  do,  one  nation,  foreign  to  the 
land  they  live  in.  They  are  Protestant  Jesuits,  implicitly  de 
voted  to  the  will  of  their  superiors,  and  forgetting  all  duties  to 
their  country  in  the  execution  of  the  policy  of  their  order. 
When  war  is  proposed  in  England  they  have  religious  scruples; 
but  when  with  France,  these  are  laid  by,  and  they  become 
clamorous  for  it.  They  are,  however,  silent,  passive  and  give 
no  other  trouble  than  of  whipping  them  along.  (To  Marquis 
de  LaFayette,  1817.  C.  VII.,  66.) 

QUARTERING  TROOPS. — His  majesty  has  no  right  to  land  a— 
single  armed  man  on  our  shores,  and  these  whom  he  sends  here 
are  liable  to  our  laws  made  for  the  suppression  and  punishment 
of  riots  and  unlawful  assemblies;  or  are  hostile  bodies,  invading 
us  in  defiance  of  law.  He  possesses,  indeed,  the  executive 
power  of  the  laws  in  every  State,  but  they  are  the  laws  of  the 
particular  State  which  he  is  to  administer  within  that  State,  and 
not  those  of  any  one  within  the  limits  of  another.  Every  State 
must  judge  for  itself  the  number  of  armed  men  which  they  may 
safely  trust  among  them,  of  whom  they  are  to  consist,  and 
under  what  restrictions  they  shall  be  laid.  (From  "A  Summary^ 
View,"  1774.  F.  I.,  445.) 

•^REBELLION. — The  spirit  of  resistance  to  government  is  so 
valuable  on  certain  occasions,  that  I  wish  it  always  to  be  kept 
alive.  It  will  often  be  exercised  when  wrong,  but  better  so 
than  not  to  be  exercised  at  all.  I  like  a  little  rebellion  now  and 
then.  It  is  like  a  storm  in  the  atmosphere.  (To  Mrs.  John 
Adams,  written  in  Paris,  1787.  F.  IV.,  370.) 
-*  REBELLION. — We  have  had  thirteen  independent  States  eleven 
years.  There  has  been  one  rebellion.  That  comes  to  one 
rebellion  in  a  century  and  a  half  for  each  State.  What  country 
before  ever  existed  a  century  and  a  half  without  a  rebellion? 
And  what  country  can  preserve  its  liberties  if  their  rulers  are 
not  warned  from  time  to  time  that  their  people  preserve  the 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  355 

spirit  of  resistance?  Let  these  take  arms.  The  remedy  is  to 
set  them  right  as  to  facts,  pardon  and  pacify  them.  What 
signify  a  few  lives  lost  in  a  century  or  two?  The  tree  of  liberty 
must  be  refreshed  from  time  to  time  with  the  blood  of  patriots 
and  tyrants.  It  is  its  natural  manure.  (To  Stephens  Smith, 
written  in  Paris,  1787.  F.  IV.,  467.) 

RECIPROCITY  IN  TRADE. — I  should  say  then  to  every  nation 
on  earth  by  treaty:  Your  people  shall  trade  freely  with  us  and 
ours  with  you,  paying  no  more  than  the  most  favored  nation, 
in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  right  of  individual  States  acting 
by  fits  and  starts  to  interrupt  our  commerce  or  to  embroil  us 
with  any  nation.  *  *  *  If  the  nations  of  Europe  from 
their  actual  establishments  are  not  at  liberty  to  say  to  America 
that  she  shall  trade  in  their  ports  duty  free,  they  may  say  she 
may  trade  there  paying  no  higher  duties  than  the  most  favored 
nation.  And  this  is  valuable  in  many  of  those  countries  where  a 
great  difference  is  made  between  the  different  nations.  (To 
James  Monroe,  written  from  Paris,  1785.  F.  IV.,  56.) 

RECIPROCITY. — Some  nations  not  yet  ripe  for  free  commerce 
in  all  its  extent  might  still  be  willing  to  mollify  its  restrictions 
and  regulations  for  us  in  proportion  to  the  advantages  which  an 
intercourse  with  us  might  offer.  Particularly  they  may  concur 
with  us  in  reciprocating  the  duties  to  be  levied  on  each  side,  or 
in  compensating  any  excess  of  duty  by  equivalent  advantages 
of  another  nature.  Our  commerce  is  certainly  of  a  character 
to  entitle  it  to  favor  in  most  countries.  The  commodities  we 
offer  are  either  necessaries  of  life,  or  materials  for  manufacture, 
or  convenient  subjects  of  revenue;  and  we  take  in  exchange, 
either  manufactures  when  they  have  received  the  last  finish  of 
art  and  industry  or  mere  luxuries.  Such  customers  may  reason 
ably  expect  welcome  and  friendly  treatment  at  every  market. 

But  should  any  nation  contrary  to  our  wishes  suppose  it  may 
better  find  its  advantages  by  continuing  its  system  of  prohibi 
tions,  duties  and  regulations  it  behooves  us  to  protect  our  citi 
zens,  their  commerce  and  navigation,  by  counter  prohibitions, 
duties  and  regulations  also.  Free  commerce  and  regulation 
are  not  to  be  given  in  exchange  for  restrictions  and  vexations; 


356  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

nor  are  they  likely  to  produce  a  relaxation  of  them.  (From  a 
report  on  the  Commerce  of  the  United  States,  1793.  F.  VI., 
480.) 

' —  RECiPROCiTY.-^-The  interests  of  a  nation,  when  well  under- 
Stood,  will  be  found  to  coincide  with  their  moral  duties.  Having 
those,  it  is  an  important  one  to  cultivate  peace  and  friendship 
with  our  neighbors.  To  do  this  we  should  make  provision  for 
rendering  the  justice  w^?  must  sometimes  require  from  them.  I 
recommend,  therefore,  for  your  consideration  whether  the  laws 
of  the  Union  should  not  be  extended  to  restrain  our  citizens 
from  committing  acts  of  violence  within  the  territories  of  other 
nations  which  should  be  punished  were  they  committed  within 
our  own.  (Paragraph  of  President's  Message,  1792.  F.  VI., 

120.) 

RECONCILIATION. — Had  Parliament  been  disposed  sincerely,  as 
we  are,  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation,  reasonable  men  had 
hoped,  that  by  meeting  us  on  this  ground,  something  might 
have  been  done.  Lord  Chatham's  Bill,  on  the  one  part,  and 
the  terms  of  Congress  on  the  other,  would  have  found  a.  basis 
for  negotiation,  which  a  spirit  of  accommodation  on  both  sides 
might,  perhaps,  have  reconciled.  With  a  change  of  Ministers, 
however,  a  total  change  of  measures  took  place.  The  compo- 

rJKJ&* 

nent  parts  of  the  Empire  have,  from  that  moment,  been  falling 
asunder,  and  a  total  annihilation  of  its  weight  in  the  political 
scale  of  the  world,  seems  justly  to  be  apprehended.  (From 
address  to  Governor  Dunmore,  of  Virginia,  1775.  F.  L,  458.) 

RECONCILIATION. — We  call  for  and  confide  in  the  good  offices 
of  our  fellow  subjects  beyond  the  Atlantic.  Of  their  friendly 
dispositions  we  do  not  cease  to  hope.  And  we  devoutly  implore 
assistance  of  Almighty  God  to  conduct  us  happily  through  this 
great  conflict  to  dispose  His  Majesty,  his  ministers,  and  Parlia 
ment  to  reconciliation  with  us  on  reasonable  terms,  and  to 
deliver  us  from  the  evils  of  a  civil  war.  (From  a  declaration 
submitted  to  Congress  giving  reasons  why  Americans  had 
taken  up  arms,  1775.  F.  L,  476.) 

RE-ELECTION. — I  sincerely  regret  that  the  unbounded  calum 
nies  of  the  Federal  party  have  obliged  me  to  throw  myself  on 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  357 

the  verdict  of  my  country  for  trial,  my  great  desire  having  been 
to  retire,  at  the  end  of  the  present  term,  to  a  life  of  tranquillity; 
and  it  was  my  decided  purpose  when  I  entered  into  office.  They 
force  my  continuance.  If  we  can  keep  the  vessel  of  State  as 
steadily  in  her  course  another  four  years,  my  earthly  purposes 
will  be  accomplished,  and  I  shall  be  free  to  enjoy,  as  you  are 
doing,  my  family,  my  farm  and  my  books.  (To  Elbridge  Gerry, 
1804.  F.  VIIL,  297.) 

RELIGION. — Compulsion  in  religion  is  distinguished  peculiarly 
from  compulsion  in  every  other  thing.  I  may  grow  rich  by  an 
art  I  am  compelled  to  follow,  I  may  recover  health  by  medicines 
I  am  compelled  to  take  against  my  own  judgment,  but  I  cannot 
be  saved  by  a  worship  I  disbelieve  and  abhor.  (From  Notes  on 
Religion,  1776.  F.  II.,  102.) 

RELIGION. — I  cannot  give  up  my  guidance  to  the  magistrate, 
because  he  knows  no  more  of  the  way  to  heaven  than  I  do, 
and  is  less  concerned  to  direct  me  right  than  I  am  to  go  right. 
*  *  *  The  magistrate  has  no  power  but  what  the  people 
gave.  The  people  have  not  given  him  the  care  of  souls  because 
they  could  not;  they  could  not  because  no  man  has  the  right 
to  abandon  the  care  of  his  salvation  to  another.  No  man  has 
power  to  let  another  prescribe  his  faith.  No  man  can  conform 
his  faith  to  the  dictates  of  another.  The  life  and  essence  of 
religion  consists  in  the  internal  persuasion  or  belief  of  the 
mind.  (From  Notes  on  Religion,  1776.  F.  II.,  101.) 

RELIGION. — If  I  be  marching  on  with  my  utmost  vigor  in 
that  way  which  according  to  sacred  geography  leads  to  Jerusa 
lem  straight,  why  am  I  beaten  and  ill  used  by  others  because  my 
hair  is  not  of  the  right  cut;  because  I  have  not  been  dressed 
right;  because  I  eat  flesh  on  the  road;  because  I  avoid  certain 
by-ways  which  seem  to  lead  into  briars;  because  I  avoid  travelers 
less  grave  and  keep  company  with  others  who  are  more  sour 
and  austere?  Yet  these  are  the  frivolous  things  which  keep 
Christians  at  war.  (From  Notes  on  Religion,  1776,  F.  II, 
100.) 

^  RELIGION. — Suppose   the  State  should   take  into   head  that** 
there  should  be  an  uniformity  of  countenance.     Men  would  be  / 


358  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

obliged  to  put  an  artificial  bump  or  swelling-  here,  a  latch  there,  * 
etc.,  but  this  would  be  merely  hypocritical;  or  if  the  alternative 
was  given  of  wearing  a  mask,  ninety-nine  one-hundredths  must 
immediately  mask.     Would  this  add  to  the  beauty  of  nature? 
Why  otherwise  in  opinions?    In  the  middle  ages  of  Christianity 
opposition   to   the   State   opinions  was  hushed.      The   conse 
quence  was  Christianity  became  loaded  with  all  the  Romish 
follies.     Nothing  but  free  argument,  raillery,  and  even  ridicule"^ 
will  preserve  the  purity  of  religion.    (From  Notes  on  Religion,  * 
1776,  F.  II.,  95.) 

•""'RELIGION. — All  persons  shall  have  full  and  free  liberty  of  re 
ligious  opinion;  nor  shall  any  be  compelled  to  frequent  or  main 
tain  any  religious  institution.  (From  proposed  Constitution 
for  Virginia,  1776.  F.  II.,  27.) 

RELIGION. — The  advantages  accruing  to*  mankind  from  our 
Savior's  mission  are  these:  First,  the  knowledge  of  one  God 
only;  second,  a  clear  knowledge  of  their  duty,  or  system  of 
morality,  delivered  on  such  authority  as  to  give  sanction;  third, 
the  outward  forms  of  religion  wanted  to  be  purged  of  that 
farcical  pomp  and  nonsense  with  which  they  were  loaded; 
fourth,  an  inducement  to  a  pious  life,  by  revealing  clearly  a 
future  existence  and  that  it  was  to  be  the  reward  of  the  virtuous. 
{From  Notes  on  Religion,  1776.  F.  II.,  94.) 
^"^RELIGION. — The  opinions  and  belief  of  men  depend  not  on 
their  own  will,  but  follow  involuntarily  the  evidence  proposed 
to  their  minds.  Almighty  God  hath  created  the  mind  free  and 
manifested  his  supreme  will  that  free  it  shall  remain  by  making 
it  altogether  insusceptible  of  restraint;  all  attempts  to  influence 
it  by  temporal  punishments,  or  burthens,  or  by  civil  incapacita- 
tions,  tend  only  to  beget  habits  of  hypocrisy  and  meannes^  and 
are  a  departure  from  the  plan  of  the  holy  author  of  our  religion. 
(From  a  Bill  for  establishing  religious  freedom,  1779.  F.  II. , 
238.) 

RELIGION. — To  compel  a  man  to  furnish  contributions  of 
money  for  the  propagations  of  opinions  which  he  disbelieves  and 
abhors,  is  sinful  and  tyrannical;  the  forcing  him  to  support  this 
or  that  teacher  of  his  own  religious  persuasion,  is  depriving 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  359 

him  of  the  comfortable  liberty  of  giving  his  contributions  to 
the  particular  pastor  whose  morals  he  would  make  his  pattern, 
and  whose  power  he  feels  most  persuasive  to  righteousness;  and 
is  withdrawing  from  the  ministry  those  temporary  rewards, 
which  proceeding  from  an  approbation  of  their  personal  con 
duct,  are  an  additional  incentive  to  earnest  and  unremitting 
labours  for  the  instruction  of  mankind.  (From  a  Bill  for  estab 
lishing  religious  freedom,  1779.  F.  II.,  238.) 
— "  RELIGION. — The  rights  of  conscience  we  never  submitted  (to 
the  rulers)  we  could  not  submit.  We  are  answerable  to  them 
to  our  God.  The  legitimate  powers  of  government  extend^, 
to  such  acts  only  as  are  injurious  to  others.  But  it  does  me  no 
injury  for  my  neighbor  to  say  there  are  twenty  gods,  or  no  gocL 
It  neither  picks  my  pocket  nor  breaks  my  leg.  If  it  be  said 
his  testimony  in  a  court  of  justice  cannot  be  relied  on,  reject  it 
then,  and  be  the  stigma  on  him.  Constraint  may  make  him 
worse  by  making  him  a  hypocrite,  but  it  will  never  make  him 
a  truer  man.  It  may  fix  him  obstinately  in  his  errors,  but  it 
will  not  cure  them.  Reason  and  free  inquiry  are  the  only 
effectual  agents  against  error.  They  are  the  natural  enemies 
of  error,  and  error  only.  (From  ''Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782. 
F.  III.,  264.) 

RELIGION. — You  will  next  read  the  new  testament.  It  is  the 
history  of  a  personage  called  Jesus.  Keep  in  your  eye  the 
opposite  pretensions.  First,  of  those  who  say  he  was  begotten 
by  God,  born  of  a  virgin,  suspended  and  reversed  the  lawrs 
of  nature  at  will,  and  ascended  bodily  into  heaven;  and  second, 
of  those  who  say  he  was  a  man  of  illegitimate  birth,  of  a  benevo 
lent  heart,  enthusiastic  mind,  who  set  out  without  pretensions  to 
divinity,  ended  in  believing  them,  and  was  punished  capitally 
for  sedition.  *  *  *  Do  not  be  frightened  from  this  inquiry 
by  any  fear  of  its  consequences.  If  it  ends  in  a  belief  that 
there  is  no  god,  you  will  find  incitements  to  virtue  in  the 
comfort  and  pleasantries  you  feel  in  its  exercise,  and  the  love 
of  others  which  it  will  procure  you.  If  you  find  reason  to 
believe  there  is  a  God,  a  consciousness  that  you  are  acting  under 
his  eye  and  that  he  approves  you,  will  be  vast  additional  incite- 


360  •      THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

ment;  if  that  there  is  a  future  state,  the  hope  of  a  happy  exis 
tence  in  that  increases  the  appetite  to  deserve  it;  if  that  Jesus 
was  also  a  God,  you  will  be  comforted  by  a  belief  of  his  aid 
and  love.  In  fine,  I  repeat,  you  must  lay  aside  all  prejudice  on 
both  sides,  and  neither  believe  nor  reject  anything  because  any 
other  persons  or  description  of  persons  have  rejected  it  or 
believed  it.  Your  own  reason  is  the  only  oracle  given  you  by 
heaven,  and  you  are  answerable  not  for  the  Tightness  but  for 
the  uprightness  of  the  decision.  (To  Peter  Carr,  Jefferson's 
nephew,  1787.  F.  IV.,  432.) 

J  RELIGION. — Religion,  your  reason  is  now  mature  enough  to 
examine  this  object.  In  the  first  place,  divest  yourself  of  all 
bias  in  favor  of  novelty  and  singularity  of  purpose.  Indulge 
them  in  any  other  subject  than  that  of  religion.  It  is  too 
important,  and  the  consequences  of  error  may  be  too  serious. 
On  the  other  hand,  shake  off  all  the  fears  and  servile  prejudices 
under  which  weak  minds  are  servilely  crouched.  Fix  reason 
firmly  in  her  seat,  and  call  to  her  tribunal  every  fact,  every 
opinion.  Question  with  boldness  even  the  existence  of  a  God; 
because,  if  there  be  one,  He  must  more  approve  of  the  homage 
of  reason,  than  that  of  blindfolded  fear.  You  will  naturally 
examine  first  the  religion  of  your  own  country.  Read  the 
Bible  then  as  you  would  Livy  and  Tacitus.  The  facts  which 
are  in  the  ordinary  course  of  nature  you  will  believe  on  the 
authority  of  the  writer,  as  you  do  those  of  the  same  kind  in 
Livy  and  Tacitus.  The  testimony  of  the  writer  weighed  in 
their  favor  in  one  scale,  and  their  not  being  against  the  laws 
of  nature  does  not  weigh  against  them.  But  these  facts  in 
the  Bible  which  contradict  the  laws  of  nature,  must  be  ex 
amined  with  more  care,  and  under  a  variety  of  faces.  Here 
you  must  recur  to  the  pretensions  of  the  writer  to  imper 
sonation  from  God.  Examine  upon  what  evidence  his  preten-^- 
sions  are  founded,  and  whether  that  evidence  is  so  strong  as 
that  its  falsehood  would  be  more  improbable  than  a  change 
in  the  laws  of  nature  in  the  case  he  relates.  (To  Peter  Carr, 
Jefferson's  nephew,  1787.  F.  IV.,  430.) 
I  RELIGION. — I  consider  the  government  of  the  United  States 


OF  THOMAS   JEFFERSON  361 

as  interdicted  by  the  Constitution  from  intermeddling  with  re 
ligious  institutions,  their  doctrines,  discipline,  or  exercises. 
This  results  not  only  from  the  provision  that  no  law  shall  be 
made  respecting  the  establishment  or  free  exercise  of  religion, 
but  from  that  also  which  reserves  to  the  States  the  powers 
not  delegated  to  the  United  States.  Certainly,  no  power  to 
prescribe  any  religious  discipline,  has  been  delegated  to  the 
general  government.  It  must  then  rest  with  the  States,  as 
far  as  it  can  be  in  any  human  authority.  But  it  is  only  pro 
posed  that  I  should  recommend,  not  prescribe  a  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer.  That  is,  that  I  should  indirectly  assume  to  the 
United  States  an  authority  over  religious  exercises,  which  the 
Constitution  has  directly  precluded  them  from.  It  must  be 
meant,  too,  that  this  recommendation  is  to  carry  some  au 
thority,  and  to  be  sanctioned  by  some  penalt/  on  those  who 
disregard  it;  not  indeed  of  fines  and  imprisonment,  but  of  some 
degree  of  proscription,  perhaps  in  public  opinion.  And  does 
the  change  in  the  nature  of  the  penalty  make  the  recommenda 
tion  less  a  law  of  conduct  for  those  to  whom  it  is  directed?  I 
do  not  believe  it  is  for  the  interest  of  religion  to  invite  the 
civil  magistrate  to  direct  its  exercises,  its  disciplines  or  its  doc 
trines;  nor  of  the  religious  societies;  that  the  general  govern 
ment  should  be  invested  with  the  power  of  effecting  any 
uniformity  of  time  or  matter  among  them.  Fasting  and  prayer 
are  religious  exercises;  the  enjoining  them  an  act  of  discipline. 
Every  religious  society  has  a  right  to  determine  for  itself  the 
times  for  these  exercises,  and  the  objects  proper  for  them, 
according  to  their  own  particular  tenets;  and  the  right  can 
never  be  safer  than  in  their  own  hands,  where  the  Constitution 
has  placed  it.  (To  Rev.  Mr.  Miller,  1808.  C.  V.,  236.) 

RELIGION. — I  believe  that  he  who  steadily  observes  those 
moral  precepts  in  which  all  religions  concur,  will  never  be  ques 
tioned  at  the  gates  of  heaven,  as  to  the  dogmas  in  which  they 
all  differ.  That  on  entering  time,  all  these  are  left  behind  us, 
and  the  Aristides  and  Catos,  the  Penns  and  Tillotsons,  Presby 
terians  and  Baptists,  are  in  concert  with  the  reason  of  the 
supreme  mind.  Of  all  the  systems  of  morality,  ancient  or 


362  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

modern,  which  has  come  under  my  observation,  none  appear 
to  me  so  pure  as  that  of  Jesus.  He  who  follows  this  steadily 
need  not,  I  think,  be  uneasy,  although  he  cannot  comprehend 
the  subtilities  and  mysteries  erected  on  his  doctrines  by  those 
who,  calling  themselves  his  special  followers  and  favorites, 
would  make  him  to  come  into  the  world  to  lay  snares  for  all 
understandings  but  theirs.  These  metaphysical  heads,  usurp 
ing  the  judgment  sent  of  God,  denounce  as  his  enemies  all  who 
cannot  perceive  the  geometrical  logic  of  Euclid  in  the  demon 
strations  of  St.  Athanasius,  that  three  are  one,  and  one  is  three; 
and  yet  that  the  one  is  not  three  nor  the  three  one.  In  all 
essential  points  you  and  I  are  of  the  same  religion;  and  I  am 
too  old  to  go  into  inquiries  and  changes  as  to  the  unessential. 
(To  William  Canby,  1813.  C.  VI.,  210.) 

RELIGION. — I  very  much  suspected  that  if  thinking  men  would 
have  the  courage  to  think  for  themselves,  and  to  speak  what 
they  think,  it  would  be  found  they  do  not  differ  in  religious 
opinions  as  much  as  is  supposed.  I  remember  to  have  heard 
Dr.  Priestly  say,  that  if  all  England  would  candidly  examine 
themselves  and  confess  they  would  find  that  Unitarianism  was 
really  the  religion  of  all;  and  I  observe  a  bill  is  now  pending 
in  Parliament  for  the  relief  of  Anti-Trinitarians.  It  is  too  late 
in  the  day  for  men  of  sincerity  to  pretend  they  believe  in  the 
Platonic  mysticisms  that  three  are  one,  and  one  is  three;  and 
yet  that  the  one  is  not  three,  and  the  three  are  not  one,  to  divide 
mankind  by  a  single  letter  into  Homoiousians  and  Homoousians. 
But  this  constitutes  the  craft,  the  power  and  the  profit  of  the 
priests.  Sweep  away  their  gossamer  fabrics  of  factitious  re 
ligion,  and  they  would  catch  no  more  flies.  We  should  all  then, 
like  the  Quakers,  live  without  an  order  of  priests,  moralize  for 
ourselves,  follow  the  oracle  of  conscience,  and  say  nothing  about 
what  no  man  can  understand,  nor  therefore  believe;  for  I  sup 
pose  belief  to  be  the  assent  of  the  mind  to  an  intelligible  propo 
sition.  (To  John  Adams,  1813.  C.  VI.,  191.) 

RELIGION. — I  must  ever  believe  that  religion  substantially 
good  which  produces  an  honest  life,  and  we  have  been  author 
ized  by  one  whom  you  and  I  equally  respect,  to  judge  of  the 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  363 

tree  by  its  roots.  Our  particular  principles  of  religion  are  a 
subject  of  accountability  to  one  God  alone.  I  inquire  after 
no  man's,  and  trouble  none  with  mine;  nor  is  it  given  to  us  in 
this  life  to  know  whether  yours  or  mine,  our  friends  or  our 
foes,  are  exactly  the  right.  Nay,  we  have  heard  it  said  that 
there  is  not  a  Quaker  or  a  Baptist,  a  Presbyterian  or  an  Episco 
palian,  a  Catholic  or  a  Protestant  in  heaven;  that,  on  entering 
that  gate,  we  leave  those  badges  of  schism  behind,  and  find 
ourselves  united  in  those  principles  only  in  which  God  has  united 
us  all.  Let  us  not  be  uneasy  then  about  the  different  roads  we 
may  pursue,  as  believing  them  the  shortest,  to  that  our  last 
abode;  but,  following  the  guidance  of  a  good  conscience,  let 
us  be  happy  in  the  hope  that  by  these  different  paths  we  shall 
all  meet  in  tne  end.  (To  Miles  King,  1814.  C.  VI.,  388.) 

RELIGION. — For  it  is  in  our  lives  and  not  from  our  words, 
that  our  religion  must  be  read.  By  the  same  test  the  world 
must  judge  me.  But  this  does  not  satisfy  the  priesthood.  They 
must  have  a  positive,  a  declared  assent  to  all  their  interest 
absurdities.  My  opinion  is  that  there  would  never  have  been 
an  infidel,  if  there  never  had  been  a  priest.  The  artificial 
structures  they  have  built  on  the  purest  of  all  moral  systems, 
for  the'  purpose  of  deriving  from  it  pence  and  power,  revolts 
those  who  think  for  themselves  and  who  read  in  that  system 
only  what  is  really  there.  These,  therefore,  they  brand  with 
such  nick-names  as  their  enmity  devises  gratuitously  to  impute, 
I  have  left  the  world,  in  silence,  to  judge  of  causes  from  their 
effects;  and  I  am  consoled  in  this  course,  my  dear  friend,  when 
I  perceive  the  candor  with  which  I  am  judged  by  your  justice 
and  discernment;  and  but,  notwithstanding  the  slanders  of  the 
saints,  my  fellow  citizens,  have  thought  me  worthy  of  trusts. 
The  imputations  of  irreligioti  having  spent  their  force,  they 
think  an  imputation  of  change  might  now  be  turned  to  account 
as  a  bolster  for  their  duperies.  I  shall  leave  them,  as  heretofore, 
to  grope  on  in  the  dark.  (To  Mrs.  Harrison  Smith,  1816.  C. 
VII.,  28.) 

RELIGION. — See  Christianity. 

RELIGIOUS  FREEDOM. — I  am  really  mortified  to  be  told  that,  in 


364  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

the  United  States  of  America,  a  fact  like  this  can  become  a 
subject  of  inquiry,  and  a  criminal  inquiry  too,  as  an  offense 
against  religion;  that  a  question  about  the  sale  of  a  book  can 
be  carried  before  the  civil  magistrate.  Is  this  then  our  free 
dom  of  religion?  And  are  we  to  have  a  censor  whose  im 
primatur  shall  say  what  books  may  be  sold,  and  what  we  may 
buy?  And  who  is  thus  to  dogmatize  religious  opinions  for  our 
citizens?  Whose  foot  is  to  be  the  measure  to*  which  ours  are 
all  to  be  cut  or  stretched?  Is  a  priest  to  be  our  inquisitor,  or 
shall  a  layman  simple  as  ourselves,  set  up  his  reason  as  the 
rule  for  what  we  are  to  read,  and  what  we  must  believe?  It 
is  an  insult  to  our  citizens  to  question  whether  they  are  rational 
beings  or  not,  and  blasphemy  against  religion  to  suppose  it  can 
not  stand  the  test  of  truth  and  reason.  If  M.  de  Becourt's  book 
be  false  in  its  facts,  disprove  them;  if  false  in  its  reasoning,  refute 
it.  But,  for  God's  sake,  let  us  freely  hear  both  sides,  if  we 
choose.  (To  M.  Dufief,  1814.  C.  VI.,  340.) 

RELIGION  OF  JEFFERSON. — But  while  this  syllabus  is  meant  to 
place  the  character  of  Jesus  in  its  true  and  high  light,  as  no 
impostor  himself,  but  a  great  reformer  of  the  Hebrew  code  of 
religion,  it  is  not  to  be  understood  that  I  am  with  him  in  all 

;y  his  doctrines.  I  am  a  Materialist;  he  takes  the  side  of  Spirit 
ualism;  he  preaches  the  efficacy  of  repentance  towards  forgive 
ness  of  sin;  I  require  a  counterpoise  of  good  works  to  redeem 
it,  etc.,  etc.  It  is  the  innocence  of  his  character,  the  purity 
and  sublimity  of  his  moral  precepts,  the  eloquence  of  his  incul- 

"^cations,  the  beauty  of  his  apalogues  in  which  he  conveys  them, 
that  I  do  so  much  admire;  sometimes,  indeed,  needing  indul- 

'Y  gence  to  eastern  hyperbolism.  My  eulogies,  too,  may  be  found 
on  a  postulate  which  may  not  be  ready  to  grant.  Among  the 
sayings  and  discourses  imputed  to  him  by  his  biographers,  I 
find  many  passages  of  fine  imaginations,  correct  morality,  and 
of  the  most  lovely  benevolence;  and  others,  again,  of  so  much 
ignorance,  of  so  much  absurdity,  so  much  untruth,  charlatanism 
and  imposture,  as  to  pronounce  it  impossible  that  such  con 
tradictions  should  have  proceeded  from  the  same  being.  I 
separate,  therefore,  the  gold  from  the  dross;  restore  to  him  the 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  365 

former,  and  leave  the  latter  to  the  stupidity  of  some,  and 
roguery  of  others  of  his  disciples.  Of  this  band  of  dupes  and 
impostors,  Paul  was  the  great  Coryphaeus,  and  first  corrupter 
of  the  doctrines  of  Jesus.  (To  William  Short,  1820.  C.  VIL, 

I55-) 

I  REPRESENTATION. — When  the  representative  body  have  lost  the 
confidence  of  their  constituents,  when  they  have  notoriously 
made  sale  of  their  most  valuable  rights,  when  they  have  as 
sumed  to  themselves  powers  which  the  people  never  put  into 
their  hands,  then  indeed  their  continuing  in  office  becomes  dan 
gerous  to  the  State,  and  calls  for  an  exercise  of  the  power  of 
dissolution.  (From  "A  Summary  View,"  1774.  F.  I.,  442.) 

REPUBLICANISM. — I  see  with  great  pleasure  every  testimony 
to  the  principles  of  pure  Republicanism,  and  every  effort  to  pre 
serve  untouched  that  partition  of  the  sovereignty  which  our 
excellent  Constitution  has  made,  between  the  general  and  par 
ticular  governments.  I  am  firmly  persuaded  that  it  is  by  giving 
due  tone  to  the  latter,  that  the  former  will  be  preserved  in  vigor 
also,  the  Constitution  having  foreseen  its  incompetency  to  all 
the  objects  of  government  and  therefore  confined  it  to  three 
specially  described.  *  *  *  It  is  hoped  that  by  a  due  poise 
and  partition  of  powers  between  the  general  and  particular  gov 
ernments,  we  have  found  the  secret  of  extending  the  benign 
blessings  of  republicanism  over  still  greater  tracts  than  we  pos 
sess.  (To  James  Sullivan,  1791.  F.  V.,  369.) 

REPUBLICANISM. — There  are  in  the  United  States  some  char 
acters  of  opposite  principles;  some  of  them  are  high  in  office; 
others  possessing  great  wealth,  and  all  of  them  hostile  to  France 
and  fondly  looking  to  England  as  the  staff  of  their  hope.  Their 
prospects  have  certainly  not  brightened.  Excepting  them,  this 
country  is  entirely  Republican,  friends  to  the  Constitution, 
anxious  to  preserve  it  and  to  have  it  administered  according  to 
its  own  Republican  principles.  The  little  party  above  mentioned 
have  espoused  it  only  as  a  stepping  stone  to  monarchy  and  have 
endeavored  to  approximate  it  to  that  in  its  administration  in 
order  to  render  its  final  transition  more  easy.  The  successes 
of  Republicanism  in  France  have  given  the  coup  de  grace  to 


366  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

their  prospects  and  I  hope  to  their  projects.  (To  William  Short, 
1793.  F.  VI.,  155.) 

REPUBLICANISM. — The  Constitution  to  which  we  are  all  at 
tached  was  meant  to  be  Republican,  and  we  believe  to  be  Repub 
lican  according  to  every  candid  interpretation.  Yet  we  have 
seen  it  so  interpreted  and  administered  as  to  be  truly  what  the 
French  have  called  a  monarchic  masque.  So  long  has  the  vessel 
run  on  this  way  and  been  trimmed  to  it  that  to*  put  her  on  her 
Republican  tack  will  require  all  the  skill,  the  firmness  and  the 
zeal  of  her  ablest  and  best  friends.  (To  Robert  Livingston, 
1800.  F.  VII.,  464.) 

REPUBLICANISM. — See  Democracy. 

REPUBLICS. — Convinced  that  the  Republican  is  the  only  form 
of  government  which  is  not  eternally  at  open  or  secret  war  with 
the  rights  of  mankind,  my  prayers  and  efforts  shall  be  cordially 
distributed  to  the  support  of  that  we  have  so  happily  estab 
lished.  It  is  indeed  an  animating  thought  that,  while  we  are 
securing  the  rights  of  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  we  are  point 
ing  out  the  way  to  struggling  nations  who  wish  like  us,  to 
emerge  from  their  tyrannies  also.  Heaven  help  their  struggles 
and  lead  them,  as  it  has  done  us,  triumphantly  through  them. 
(From  a  reply  to  an  address  of  the  Mayor  and  citizens  of  Alex 
andria,  1790.  F.  V.,  147.) 

REPUBLICS. — Perhaps  it  will  be  found  that  to  obtain  a  just 
republic  (and  it  is  to  secure  our  just  rights  that  we  resort  to 
government  at  all)  it  must  be  so  extensive  as  that  local  egoisms 
may  never  reach  its  greater  part;  that  on  every  particular  ques 
tion  a  majority  may  be  found  in  its  councils  free  from  particular 
interests  and  giving  therefore  an  uniform  prevalence  to  the 
principles  of  justice.  The  smaller  the  societies,  the  more  violent 
and  convulsive  their  schisms.  We  have  chanced  to  live  in  an 
age  which  will  probably  be  distinguished  in  history  for  its  ex 
periments  in  government  on  a  larger  scale  than  has  as  yet 
taken  place.  But  we  shall  not  live  to  see  the  result.  The 
grosser  absurdities  such  as  hereditary  magistracies,  we  shall  see 
exploded  in  our  day.  *  *  *  But  what  is  to  be  the  substi 
tute?  This  our  children  or  grandchildren  will  answer.  It  is  un- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  367 

fortunate  that  the  efforts  of  mankind  to  recover  the  freedom  of 
which  they  have  been  so  long  deprived  will  be  accompanied 
with  violence,  with  errors  and  even  with  crimes.  But  while  we 
weep  over  the  means,  we  may  pray  for  the  end.  (To  M.  D'lver- 
nois,  1795.  F.  VII.,  4.) 

REPUBLICS. — It  (the  recent  election  of  President)  furnishes  a 
new  doctrine  that  a  republic  can  be  preserved  only  in  a  small 
territory.  The  reverse  is  the  truth.  Had  our  territory  been 
even  a  third  only  of  what  it  is  we  were  gone.  But  while  frenzy 
and  delusion  like  an  epidemic  gained  certain  parts,  the  residue 
remained  sound  and  untouched,  and  held  on  till  their  brethren 
could  recover  from  the  temporary  delusion.  (To  Nathaniel 
Niles,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  24.) 

REPUBLICS, — Were  I  to  assign  to  this  term  a  precise  and 
definite  idea,  I  would  say,  merely  and  simply,  it  means  a  gov 
ernment  by  its  citizens  in  mass,  acting  directly  and  personally, 
according  to  rules  established  by  the  majority;  and  that  every 
other  government  is  more  or  less  Republican,  in  proportion  as 
it  has  in  its  composition  more  or  less  of  this  ingredient  of  the 
direct  action  of  the  citizens.  Such  a  government  is  evidently 
restrained  to  very  narrow  limits  of  space  and  population.  I 
doubt  if  it  \vould  be  practicable  beyond  the  extent  of  a  New 
England  township.  The  first  shade  from  the  pure  which,  like 
that  of  pure  vital  air,  cannot  sustain  life  itself,  would  be  where 
the  powers  of  the  government,  being  divided,  should  be  ex 
ercised  each  by  representatives  chosen  either,  pro  hac  vice,  or 
for  such  short  terms  as  should  render  secure  the  duty  of  ex 
pressing  the  will  of  their  constituents.  This  I  should  consider 
as  the  nearest  approach  to  a  pure  Republic,  which  is  practicable 
on  a  large  scale  of  country  or  population.  *  *  *  In  the  gen 
eral  government,  the  House  of  Representatives  is  mainly  Re 
publican;  the  Senate  scarcely  so  at  all,  as  not  elected  by  the 
people  directly,  and  so  long  secured  even  against  those  who  do 
elect  them;  the  Executive  more  Republican  than  the  Senate, 
from  its  shorter  term,  its  election  by  the  people,  in  practice 
(for  they  vote  for  A  only  on  an  assurance  that  he  will  vote  for 
B)  and  because,  in  practice  also,  a  principle  of  rotation  seems 


368  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

to  be  in  a  course  of  establishment;  the  judiciary  independent 
of  the  nation,  their  coercion  by  impeachment  being  found 
nugatory. 

If,  then,  the  control  of  the  people  over  the  organs  of  their 
government  be  the  measure  of  its  Republicanism,  and  I  confess 
I  know  no  other  measure,  it  must  be  agreed  that  our  govern 
ments  have  much  less  of  Republicanism  than  ought  to  have  been 
expected;  in  other  words,  that  the  people  have  less  regular  con 
trol  over  their  agents,  than  their  rights  and  their  interests 
require.  And  this  I  ascribe,  not  to  any  want  of  Republican 
dispositions  in  those  who  formed  these  constitutions,  but  to  a 
submission  of  true  principle  to  European  authorities,  to  specu 
lators  on  government,  whose  fears  of  the  people  have  been 
inspired  by  the  populace  of  their  own  great  cities,  and  were 
unjustly  entertained  against  the  independent,  the  happy,  and 
therefore  orderly  citizens  of  the  United  States.  Much  I  appre 
hend  that  the  golden  moment  is  past  for  reforming  these 
heresies.  The  functionaries  of  public  power  rarely  strengthen 
in  their  disposition  to  abridge  it,  and  an  organized  call  for 
timely  amendment  is  not  likely  to  prevail  against  an  organized 
opposition  to  it.  We  are  always  told  that  things  are  going  on 
well;  why  change  them?  "Chi  sta  bene,  non  si  muore,"  said 
the  Italian,  "let  him  who  stands  well,  stand  still."  This  is  true; 
and  I  verily  believe  they  would  go  on  well  with  us  under  an 
absolute  monarch,  while  our  present  character  remains,  of  order, 
industry  and  love  of  peace  and  restrained,  as  he  would  be,  by 
the  proper  spirit  of  the  people.  But  it  is  while  it  remains  such, 
we  should  provide  against  the  consequences  of  its  deterioration. 
And  let  us  rest  in  hope  that  it  will  yet  be  done,  and  spare  our 
selves  the  pain  of  evils  which  may  never  happen. 

On  this  view  of  the  import  of  the  term  Republic,  instead  of 
saying,  as  has  been  said,  "that  it  may  mean  anything  or  noth 
ing,"  we  may  say  with  truth  and  meaning,  that  governments  are 
more  or  less  Republican,  as  they  have  more  or  less  of  the  element 
of  popular  election  and  control  in  their  composition;  and  be 
lieving,  as  I  do,  that  the  mass  of  the  citizens  is  the  safest  deposi^ 
tory  of  their  own  rights,  and  especially,  that  the  evils  flowing. 


OF   THOMAS  JEFFERSON  369 

from  the  duperies  of  the  people,  are  less  injurious  than  those 
from  the  egoism  of  their  agents,  I  am  a  friend  to  that  composi 
tion  of  government  which  has  in  it  the  most  of  this  ingredient. 
And  I  sincerely  believe,  with  you,  that  banking  establishments 
are  more  dangerous  than  standing  armies;  and  that  the  prin 
ciple  of  spending  money  to  be  paid  by  posterity,  under  the 
name  of  funding,  is  but  swindling  futurity  on  a  large  scale.  (To 
John  Taylor,  1816.  F.  X.,  28-31.) 

RESIDENCE  OF  CONGRESSMEN. — Is  the  necessity  now  urgent,  to 
declare  that  no  non-residents  of  his  district  shall  be  eligible  as 
a  member  of  Congress?  It  seems  to  me  that,  in  practice,  the 
partialities  of  the  people  are  a  sufficient  security  against  such 
an  election;  and  that  if,  in  any  instance,  they  should  ever  choose 
a  non-resident,  it  must  be  one  of  such  eminent  merit  and 
qualifications,  as  would  make  it  a  good,  rather  than  an  evil; 
and  that,  in  any  event,  the  examples  will  be  so  rare,  as  never  to 
amount  to  a  serious  evil.  If  the  case  then  be  neither  clear  nor 
urgent,  would  it  not  be  better  to  let  it  be  undisturbed?  Per 
haps  its  decision  may  never  be  called  for.  But  if  it  be  indis 
pensable  to  establish  this  disqualification  now,  would  it  not  look 
better  to  declare  such  others,  at  the  same  time,  as  may  be 
proper?  I  frankly  cannot  wish  to  have  them  go  further.  (To 
J.  C.  Cahall,  1814.  C.  VI.,  310.) 

RETIREMENT. — There  may  be  people  to  whose  tempers  and 
dispositions  contention  is  pleasing,  and  who,  therefore,  wish  a 
continuance  of  confusion,  but  to  me  it  is  of  all  states  but  one 
the  most  horrid.  My  first  wish  is  a  restoration  of  our  just 
rights;  my  second  a  return  of  the  happy  period,  when  consist 
ently  with  duty  I  may  withdraw  myself  totally  from  the  public 
stage,  and  pass  the  rest  of  my  days  in  domestic  ease  and  tran 
quillity,  banishing  every  desire  of  ever  hearing  what  passes  in 
the  world.  (To  John  Randolph,  1775.  F.  I.,  482.) 

RETIREMENT. — Before  I  ventured  to  declare  to  my  country 
men  my  determination  to  retire  from  public  employment,  I 
examined  well  my  heart  to  know  whether  it  were  thoroughly 
cured  of  every  principle  of  political  ambition,  whether  no  lurk 
ing  particle  remained  which  might  leave  me  uneasy  when  re- 


370 


THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 


duced  within  the  limits  of  mere  private  life.  I  became  satisfied 
that  every  fibre  of  that  passion  was  thoroughly  eradicated.  (To 
James  Monroe,  1782.  F.  III.,  56.) 

RETIREMENT. — It  is  a  thing  of  mere  indifference  to  the  public 
whether  I  retain  or  relinquish  my  purpose  of  closing  my  tour 
with  the  first  periodical  renovation  of  the  government.  I  know 
my  own  measure  too  well  to  suppose  that  my  services  contribute 
anything  to  the  public  confidence  or  the  public  utility.  Multi 
tudes  can  fill  the  office  in  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  place 
me,  as  much  to  their  advantage  and  satisfaction.  I,  therefore, 
have  no  motive  to  consult  but  my  own  inclination,  which  is  bent 
irresistibly  on  the  tranquil  enjoyment  of  my  family,  my  farms 
and  my  books.  (To  Washington,  1792.  F.  VI.,  6.) 

RETIREMENT. — In  the  meantime,  I  am  going  to  Virginia.  I 
have  at  length  become  able  to  fix  that  to  the  beginning  of  the 
New  Year.  I  am  then  to  be  liberated  from  the  hated  occupa 
tions  of  politics,  and  to  remain  in  the  bosom  of  my  family,  my 
farm  and  my  books.  I  have  my  house  to  build,  my  fields  to 
farm,  and  to  watch  for  the  happiness  of  those  who  labor  for 
mine.  I  have  one  daughter  married  to  a  man  of  science,  sense, 
virtue  and  competence.  (To  Mrs.  Church,  1793.  F.  VI.,  455.) 

RETIREMENT. — There  has  been  a  time  when  perhaps  the  esteem 
of  the  world  was  of  higher  value  in  my  eyes  than  everything 
in  it.  But  age,  experience  and  reflection,  preserving  to  that  its 
only  due  value,  have  set  a  higher  on  tranquillity.  The  motion 
of  my  blood  no  longer  keeps  time  with  the  tumult  of  the  world. 
It  leads  me  to  seek  for  happiness  in  the  lap  and  love  of  my 
family,  in  the  society  of  my  neighbors  and  my  books,  in  the 
wholesome  occupations  of  my  farm  and  my  affairs,  in  an  interest 
or  affection  in  every  bud  that  opens,  in  every  breath  that  blows 
around  me,  in  an  entire  freedom  of  rest  or  motion,  of  thought 
or  incogitancy,  owing  account  to  myself  alone  of  my  hours 
and  actions.  What  must  be  the  principle  of  that  calculation 
which  should  balance  against  these  the  circumstances  of  my 
present  existence!  Worn  down  with  labors  from  morning  to 
night  and  day  to  day;  knowing  them  as  fruitless  to  others  as 
they  are  vexatious  to  myself,  committed  singly  in  desperate 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  371 

and  eternal  contest  against  a  host  who  are  systematically  un 
dermining  the  public  liberty  and  prosperity,  cut  off  from  my 
family  and  friends,  my  affairs  abandoned  to  chaos  and  derange 
ment:  in  short,  giving  everything  I  love  in  exchange  for  every 
thing  I  hate,  and  all  this  without  a  single  gratification  in  posses 
sion  or  prospect,  in  present  enjoyment  or  future  wish.  (To 
James  Madison,  1793.  F.  VI.,  292.) 

RETIREMENT. — Within  a  few  days  I  retire  to  my  family,  my 
books  and  farms;  and  having  gained  the  harbor  myself,  I  shall 
look  on  my  friends  still  buffeting  the  storm  with  anxiety 
indeed,  but  not  with  envy.  Never  did  a  prisoner,  released  from 
his  chains,  feel  such  relief  as  I  shall  on  shaking  off  the  shackles 
of  power.  Nature  intended  me  for  the  tranquil  pursuits  of 
science,  by  rendering  them  my  supreme  delight.  But  the  enor 
mities  of  the  times  in  which  I  have  lived,  have  forced  me  to 
take  a  part  in  resisting  them,  and  to  commit  myself  on  the 
boisterous  ocean  of  political  passions.  I  thank  God  for  the 
opportunity  of  retiring  from  them  without  censure,  and  carry 
ing  with  me  the  most  consoling  proofs  of  public  approbation. 
(To  Dupont  de  Nemours,  1809.  C.  V.,  432.) 

REVENUE. — Is  it  consistent  with  good  policy  or  free  govern 
ment  to  establish  a  perpetual  revenue?  Is  it  not  against  the 
practice  of  our  wise  British  ancestors?  Have  not  the  instances 
in  which  we  have  departed  from  this  in  Virginia  been  con 
stantly  condemned  by  the  universal  voice  of  our  country?  Is 
it  safe  to  make  the  governing  power  when  once  seated  in  office, 
independent  of  its  revenue?  (To  Edmund  Pendleton,  1776. 
F.  II.,  79.) 

REVOLUTION  (CAUSES). — The  seeds  of  the  war  are  here  traced 
to  their  true  source.  The  Tory  education  of  the  king  was  the 
first  preparation  for  that  change  in  the  British  Government 
which  that  party  never  ceases  to  wish.  This  naturally  ensured 
Tory  administration  during  his  life.  At  the  moment  he  came 
to  the  throne  and  cleared  his  hands  of  his  enemies  by  the  peace., 
of  Paris,  the  assumptions  of  his  unwarrantable  right  over 
America  commenced;  they  were  so  signal  and  followed  one  an 
other  so  close  as  to  prove  they  wrere  part  of  a  system  either  to  re- 


372  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

duce  it  under  absolute  subjection  and  thereby  make  it  an 
instrument  for  attempts  on  Britain  itself,  or  to  sever  it  from 
Britain,  so  that  it  might  not  be  a  weight  in  the  Whig  scale. 
This  latter  alternative,  however,  was  not  considered  as  the  one 
that  would  take  place.  They  knew  so  little  of  America  that 
they  thought  it  unable  to  encounter  the  little  finger  of  Great 
Britain.  (From  Answers  to  the  Queries  of  M.  Soules,  written 
in  Paris,  1776.  F.  IV.,  307.) 

RHODE  ISLAND. — How  happens  it  that  Rhode  Island  is  op 
posed  to  every  useful  proposition?  Her  geography  accounts 
for  it,  with  the  aid  of  one  or  two  observations.  The  cultivators  of 
the  earth  are  the  most  virtuous  citizens,  and  possess  most  of 
the  amor  patriae.  Merchants  are  the  least  virtuous,  and  possess 
the  least  of  the  amor  patriae.  The  latter  reside  principally  in 
the  seaport  towns,  the  former  in  the  interior  country.  Now 
it  happened  that  of  the  territory  constituting  Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut,  the  part  containing  the  seaports  was  erected  into 
a  State  by  itself  and  called  Rhode  Island,  and  that  containing 
the  interior  country  was  erected  into  another  State  called  Con 
necticut.  For  though  it  has  a  little  seacoast,  there  are  no 
good  ports  in  it.  Hence,  it  happens  that  there  is  scarcely  one 
merchant  in  the  whole  State  of  Connecticut,  while  there  is  not 
a  single  man  in  Rhode  Island  who  is  not  a  merchant  of  some 
sort.  (From  Answers  to  Questions  Propounded  by  M.  de 
Meusnier,  1786.  F.  IV.,  144.) 

RICE. — I  find  in  fact  that  but  a  small  portion  of  the  rice  con 
sumed  here  is  from  the  American  market,  but  the  consumption 
of  this  article  here  is  immense.  If  the  makers  of  American 
rice  would  endeavor  to  adapt  the  preparation  of  it  to  the  taste 
of  this  country  so  as  to  give  it  over  the  Mediterranean  rice  the 
advantage  of  which  it  seems  susceptible,  it  would  very  much 
increase  the  quantity,  for  which  they  may  find  sale.  (To  John 
Jay,  written  in  Paris,  1786.  F.  IV.,  237.) 

RIGHTS. — Our  legislators  are  not  sufficiently  apprised  of  the 
rightful  limits  of  their  power;  that  their  true  office  is  to  declare 
and  enforce  only  our  natural  rights  and  duties,  and  to  take  none 
of  them  from  us.  No  man  has  a  natural  right  to  commit  ag- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  373 

gression  on  the  equal  rights  of  another;  and  this  is  all  from 
which  the  laws  ought  to  restrain  him;  every  man  is  under  the 
natural  duty  of  contributing  to  the  necessities  of  the  society; 
and  this  is  all  the  laws  should  enforce  on  him;  and,  no  man 
having  a  natural  right  to  be  the  judge  between  himself  and 
another,  it  is  his  natural  duty  to  submit  to  the  umpirage  of  an 
impartial  third.  When  the  laws  have  declared  and  enforced 
all  this,  they  have  fulfilled  their  functions;  and  the  idea  is  quite 
unfounded,  that  on  entering  into  society  we  give  up  any  natural 
right.  (To  F.  W.  Gilmor,  1816.  C.  VII.,  3.) 

ROGUES. — I  do  not  believe  with  the  Rochef oucaulds  and  Mon- 
taignes  that  fourteen  out  of  fifteen  men  are  rogues;  I  believe 
a  great  abatement  from  that  proposition  may  be  made  in  favor 
of  general  honesty.  But  I  have  always  found  that  rogues  would 
be  uppermost,  and  I  do  not  know  that  the  proposition  is  too 
strong  for  the  higher  orders  and  for  those,  who  rising  above 
the  swinish  multitude,  always  contrive  to  nestle  themselves  into 
places  of  power  and  profit.  These  rogues  set  out  with  stealing 
the  people's  good  opinion,  and  then  steal  from  them  right  of 
withdrawing  it  by  contriving  laws  and  associations  against  the 
power  of  the  people  themselves.  (To  Mann  Page,  1795.  F. 
VII.,  24.) 

ROTATION. — To  prevent  every  danger  which  might  arise  to 
American  freedom  by  continuing  too  long  in  office  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Continental  Congress,  to  preserve  to  that  body  the 
confidence  of  their  friends  and  to  disarm  the  malignant  imputa 
tion  of  their  enemies,  it  is  earnestly  recommended  to  the  several 
provinces,  Assemblies  or  Conventions,  of  the  United  Colonies 
that  in  their  future  elections  of  delegates  to  the  Continental 
Congress  one-half  at  least  of  the  persons  chosen  be  such  as 
were  not  of  the  delegation  next  preceding,  and  the  residue  be 
of  such  as  shall  not  have  served  in  that  office  longer  than  two 
years.  (From  a  resolution  offered  in  the  Continental  Congress, 
1776.  F.  IL,  61.) 

ROTATION. — The  second  amendment  (to  the  proposed  Con 
stitution)  which  appears  to  me  essential  is  the  restoring  the 
principle  of  necessary  rotation,  particularly  to  the  Senate  and 


374  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

Presidency;  but  most  of  all  the  last.  Re-eligibility  makes  him 
an  officer  for  life,  and  the  disasters  inseparable  from  an  elective 
monarchy,  render  it  preferable,  if  we  cannot  tread  back  that 
step,  that  we  should  go  forward  and  take  refuge  in  an  hereditary 
one.  *  *  *  The  natural  progress  of  things  is  for  liberty  to 
yield  and  government  to  gain  ground.  (To  Edward  Carring- 
ton,  written  in  Paris,  1788.  F.  V.,  20.) 

ROTATION. — When  I  returned  from  France,  after  an  absence 
of  six  or  seven  years,  I  was  astonished  at  the  change  which  I 
found  had  taken  place  in  the  United  States  in  that  time.  No 
more  like  the  same  people;  their  notions,  their  habits  and  man 
ners,  the  course  of  their  commerce,  so  totally  changed,  that  I, 
who  stood  in  those  of  1784,  found  myself  not  at  all  qualified  to 
speak  their  sentiments,  or  forward  their  views  in  1790.  Very 
soon,  therefore,  after  entering  on  the  office  of  Secretary  of 
State,  I  recommended  to  General  Washington  to  establish  as 
a  rule  of  practice,  that  no  person  should  be  continued  for  for 
eign  mission  beyond  an  absence  of  six,  seven  or  eight  years. 
(To  William  Short,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  95.) 

ROTATION. — That  there  are  in  our  country  a  great  number 
of  characters  entirely  equal  to  the  management  of  its  affairs, 
cannot  be  doubted.  Many  of  them,  indeed,  have  not  had  op 
portunities  of  making  themselves  known  to  their  fellow-citizens; 
but  many  have  had,  and  the  only  difficulty  will  be  to  choose 
among  them.  These  changes  are  necessary,  too,  for  the  security 
of  Republican  government.  If  some  period  be  not  fixed,  either 
by  the  Constitution  or  by  practice,  to  the  services  of  the  First 
Magistrate,  his  office,  though  nominally  elective,  will,  in  fact,  be 
for  life;  and  that  will  soon  degenerate  into  an  inheritance.  (To 
Mr.  Weaver,  1807.  C.  V.,  89.) 

ROTATION. — I  am  sensible  of  the  kindness  of  your  rebuke  on 
my  determination  to  retire  from  office  at  a  time  when  our  coun 
try  is  laboring  under  difficulties  truly  great.  But  if  the  prin 
ciple  of  rotation  be  a  sound  one,  as  I  conscientiously  believe 
it  to  be  with  respect  to  this  office,  no  pretext  should  ever  be 
permitted  to  dispense  with  it,  because  there  never  will  be  a 
time  when  real  difficulties  do  not  exist,  and  furnish  a  plausible 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  375 

pretext  for  dispensation.  (To  Henry  Guest,  1809.  C.  V.,  407.) 
SALARIES. — Be  assured  we  are  the  lowest  and  most  obscure  of 
the  whole  diplomatic  tribe.  When  I  was  in  Congress,  I  chose 
never  to  intermeddle  on  the  subject  of  salary,  first  because  I 
was  told  the  eyes  of  some  were  turned  on  me  for  this  office 
(Minister  to  France) ;  and  secondly,  because  I  was  really  ignor 
ant  what  might  be  its  expenses.  *  *  *  I  live  here  about 
as  well  as  we  did  at  Annapolis.  I  keep  a  hired  carriage  and  two 
horses.  A  riding  horse  I  cannot  afford  to  keep.  This  still  is 
far  below  the  level,  and  return  when  I  will  to  America  I  shall 
be  in  debt  the  outfit  to  Congress.  I  think  I  am  the  first  in 
stance  in  the  world  where  it  has  not  been  given.  *  *  *  I 
ask  nothing  for  my  time;  but  think  my  expenses  should  be  paid 
in  a  style  equal  to  that  of  those  with  whom  I  am  classed.  (To 
James  Madison,  1/84.  F.  IV.,  12.) 

SALVATION. — The  care  of  every  man's  soul  belongs  to  himself. 
But  what  if  he  neglect  the  care  of  it?  Well,  what  if  he  neglect 
the  care  of  his  health  or  estate,  which  more  nearly  relate  to  the 
state?  \Vill  the  magistrate  make  a  law  that  he  shall  not  be 
poor  or  sick?  Laws  provide  against  injury  from  others;  but 
not  from  ourselves.  God  himself  will  not  save  men  against 
their  wills.  (From  Notes  on  Religion,  1776.  F.  II.,  100.) 

SECESSION. — In  every  free  and  deliberating  society  there  must 
from  the  very  nature  of  man  be  opposite  parties,  and  violent 
dissensions  and  discords;  and  one  of  those  for  the  most  part 
must  prevail  over  the  other  for  a  longer  or  a  shorter  time. 
Perhaps  this  party  division  is  necessary  to  induce  each  to  watch 
and  debate  to  the  people  the  proceedings  of  the  other.  But 
if  on  a  temporary  superiority  of  one  party  the  other  is  to  resort 
to  a  scission  of  the  Union,  no  federation  can  ever  exist.  If  to 
rid  ourselves  of  the  present  rule  of  Massachusetts  and  Connec 
ticut  we  break  the  Union,  will  the  evil  stop  there?  Suppose 
the  New  England  States  alone  cut  off,  will  our  nature  be 
changed?  Are  we  not  men  still  to  the  south  of  that?  And 
with  all  the  passions  of  men?  Immediately,  we  shall  see  a 
Pennsylvania  and  a  Virginia  party  arise  in  the  Residuary  Con 
federacy,  and  the  public  rnind  will  be  distracted  with  the  same 


376  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

party  spirit.  What  a  game,  too,  will  the  one  party  have  in  their 
hands  by  eternally  threatening  the  other  that  unless  they  do 
so  and  so  they  will  join  their  northern  neighbors.  If  we  reduce 
our  Union  to  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  immediately  the 
conflict  will  be  established  between  the  representatives  and  these 
two  States,  and  they  will  end  by  breaking  into  their  simple 
units.  Seeing  therefore  that  an  association  of  men,  who  will 
not  quarrel  with  one  another,  is  a  thing  which  never  yet  existed 
from  the  greatest  confederacy  of  nations  down  to  a  town  meet 
ing  or  a  vestry;  seeing  that  we  must  have  somebody  to  quarrel 
with,  I  had  rather  keep  our  New  England  associates  for  that 
purpose  than  to  see  our  bickerings  transferred  to  others.  They 
are  circumscribed  within  such  narrow  limits,  and  their  popula 
tion  so  full,  that  their  numbers  will  ever  be  the  minority,  and 
they  are  marked,  like  the  Jews,  with  such  a  perversity  of  char 
acter,  as  to  constitute  from  that  circumstance  the  natural 
division  of  our  parties.  A  little  patience  and  we  shall,  see  the 
reign  of  witches  pass  over,  their  spells  dissolved,  and  the  people 
recovering  their  true  sight,  restoring  their  government  to  its 
true  principles.  It  is  true  that  in  the  meantime  we  are  suffer 
ing  deeply  in  spirit  and  incurring  the  losses  of  war  and  long 
oppressions  of  enormous  public  debt.  But  who  can  say  what 
would  be  the  evils  of  a  scission,  and  when  and  where  they  would 
end?  Better  keep  together  as  we  are,  haul  off  from  Europe 
as  soon  as  we  can,  and  from  all  attachments  to  any  portion  of 
it;  and  if  they  show  their  power  just  sufficiently  to  hoop  us 
together  it  will  be  the  happiest  situation  in  which  we  can  exist. 
If  the  game  runs  sometime  against  us  at  home,  we  must  have 
patience  till  luck  turns.  (From  a  letter  to  John  Taylor,  1798. 
F.  VII.,  264.) 

SECESSION. — What,  then,  does  this  English  faction  with  you 
mean?  Their  newspapers  say  rebellion,  and  that  they  will  not 
remain  united  with  us  unless  we  will  permit  them  to  govern  the 
majority.  If  that  be  their  purpose,  their  anti-republican  spirit, 
it  ought  to  be  met  at  once.  But  a  government  like  ours  should 
be  slow  in  believing  this,  should  put  forth  its  whole  might  when 
necessary  to  suppress  it,  and  promptly  return  to  the  paths  of 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  377 

reconciliation.  The  extent  of  our  country  secures  it,  I  hope, 
from  the  vindictive  passions  of  the  petty  incorporations  of 
Greece.  I  rather  suspect  that  the  principal  office  of  the  other 
seventeen  States  will  be  to  moderate  and  restrain  the  local 
excitement  of  our  friends  with  you,  when  they  (with  the  aid  of 
their  brethren  of  the  other  States,  if  they  need  it)  shall  have 
brought  the  rebellious  to  their  feet.  (To  Elbridge  Gerry,  1812. 
C.  VI.,  63.) 

SECESSION. — Should  the  schism  be  pushed  to  separation,  it 
will  be  for  a  short  term  only;  two  or  three  years'  trial  will  bring 
them  back,  like  quarrelling  lovers,  to  renewed  embraces,  and 
increased  affections.  The  experiment  of  separation  would  soon 
prove  to  both  that  they  had  mutually  miscalculated  their  best 
interests.  And  even  were  the  parties  in  Congress  to  secede  in 
a  passion,  the  soberer  people  \vould  call  a  convention  and 
cement  against  the  severance  attempted  by  the  insanity  of  their 
functionaries.  With  this  consoling  view,  my  greatest  grief 
would  be  for  the  fatal  effect  of  such  an  event  on  the  hopes  and 
happiness  of  the  world.  We  exist,  and  are  quoted,  as  standing 
proofs  that  a  government,  so  modelled  as  to  rest  continually 
on  the  will  of  the  whole  society,  is  a  practicable  government. 
Were  we  to  break  to  pieces,  it  would  damp  the  hopes  and  the 
efforts  of  the  good,  and  give  triumph  to  those  of  the  bad, 
through  the  whole  enslaved  world.  (To  Richard  Rush,  1820. 
C.  VII.,  182.) 

SECRECY. — No  ground  of  support  of  the  Executive  will  ever 
be  so  sure  as  a  complete  knowledge  of  their  proceedings  by  the 
people;  and  it  is  only  in  cases  where  the  public  good  would  be 
injured,  and  because  it  would  be  injured  that  proceedings  should 
be  secret.  (From  a  communication  to  the  President,  1793.  F. 
VI.,  46.) 

SEDITION  LAW. — I  considered,  and  now  consider,  that  law  to 
be  a  nullity,  as  absolute  and  as  palpable  as  if  Congress  had  or 
dered  us  to  fall  down  and  worship  a  golden  image;  and  that 
it  was  as  much  my  duty  to  arrest  its  execution  in  every  stage, 
as  it  would  have  been  to  have  rescued  from  the  fiery  furnace 
those  who  should  have  been  cast  into  it  for  refusing  to  wor- 


378  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

ship  their  image.  It  was  accordingly  done,  in  every  instance, 
without  asking  what  the  offenders  had  done,  or  against  whom 
they  had  offended,  but  whether  the  pains  they  were  suffering 
were  inflicted  under  the  pretended  sedition  law.  (To  Mrs.  John 
Adams,  1804.  F.  VIII.,  308.) 

^—SEDITION  LAW. — You  seem  to  think  it  developed  on  the  judge 
to  decide  on  the  validity  of  the  sedition  law.  But  nothing  in 
the  Constitution  has  given  them  a  right  to  decide  for  the  Execu 
tive,  more  than  to  the  Executive  to  decide  for  them.  Both 
magistracies  are  equally  independent  in  the  sphere  of  action 
assigned  to  them.  The  judges,  believing  the  law  constitutional, 
had  a  right  to  pass  a  sentence  of  fine  and  imprisonment;  be 
cause  the  power  was  placed  in  their  hands  by  the  Constitution. 
But  the  Executive  believing  the  law  to  be  unconstitutional  was 
bound  to  remit  the  execution  of  it;  because  that  power  has 
been  confined  to  him  by  the  Constitution.  That  instrument 
meant  that  its  co-ordinate  branches  should  be  checks  on  each 
other.  But  the  opinion  which  gives  the  judges  the  right  to 
decide  what  laws  are  constitutional,  and  what  not,  not  only  for 
themselves  in  their  own  sphere  of  action,  but  for  the  Legisla 
ture  and  Executive  also,  in  their  spheres,  would  make  the 
Judiciary  a  despotic  branch.  Nor  does  the  opinion  of  the  un- 
constitutionality,  and  consequent  nullity  of  that  law,  which  is 
confounding  all  vice  and  virtue,  all  truth  and  falsehood  in  the 
United  States.  The  power  to  do  that  is  fully  possessed  by  the 
several  State  Legislatures.  It  was  reserved  to  them,  and  was 
denied  to  the  general  government,  by  the  Constitution,  ac 
cording  to  our  construction  of  it.  While  we  deny  that  Con 
gress  has  a  right  to  control  the  freedom  of  the  press,  we  have 
ever  asserted  the  right  of  the  States,  and  their  exclusive  right, 
to  do  so.  (To  Mrs.  John  Adams,  1804.  F.  VIIL,  311.) 

SEIZURE. — Property  wrongfully  taken  from  a  friend  on  a  high 
sea  is  not  thereby  transferred  to  the  captor.  In  whatever  hands 
it  is  found  it  remains  the  property  of  those  from  whom  it  was 
taken;  and  any  person  possessed  of  it,  private  or  public,  has  a 
right  to  restore  it.  If  it  comes  to  the  hands  of  the  Executive  they 
may  restore  it.  If  into  those  of  the  Legislature  (as  by  formal 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  379 

payment  into  the  Treasury)  they  may  restore  it.  Whoever, 
private  or  public,  undertakes  to  restore  it,  takes  on  themselves 
the  risk  of  proving  that  the  goods  were  taken  without  authority 
of  the  law,  and  consequently  that  the  captor  had  no  right  to 
them.  The  Executive,  charged  with  our  exterior  relations, 
seems  bound,  if  satisfied  of  the  fact,  to  do  right  to  the  foreign 
nation,  and  take  on  itself  the  risk  of  justification.  (To  Secre 
ry  of  State,  James  Madison,  1801.  F.  VIII.,  73.) 
SELF-GOVERNMENT. — Every  man  and  every  body  of  men  on 
earth  possess  the  right  of  self-government.  They  receive  it 
with  their  being  from  the  hand  of  nature.  Individuals  exercise 
it  by  their  single  will;  collections  of  men  by  that  of  their 
majority;  for  the  Jaw  ojjthe  ma  j  ority  Js  the  natural  law  of  every  | 
society  of  men.  When  a  certain  description  of  men  are  to| 
transact  together  a  particular  business,  the  times  and  places 
of  their  meeting  and  separating  depend  on  their  own  will;  they 
make  a  part  of  the  natural  right  of  self-government.  This,  like 
all  other  natural  rights,  may  be  abridged  or  modified  in  its  ex 
ercise  by  their  own  consent,  or  by  the  law  of  those  who  depute 
them,  and  if  they  meet  in  the  rights  of  others;  but  as  far  as  it 
is  not  abridged  or  modified,  they  retain  it  as  a  natural  right,  and 
may  exercise  it  in  what  form  they  please,  either  exclusively 
by  themselves  or  in  association  with  others,  or  by  others  alto 
gether,  as  they  shall  agree.  (From  an  opinion  upon  the  ques 
tion  whether  the  President  should  veto  the  bill  providing  that 
the  seat  of  government  be  removed  to  the  Potomac,  1790.  F. 
V.,  205.) 

SELF-GOVERNMENT. — We  have  the  same  object,  the  success  of 
representative  government.  Nor  are  we  acting  for  ourselves 
alone,  but  for  the  whole  human  race.  The  event  of  our  experi 
ment  is  to  show  whether  man  can  be  trusted  with  self-govern 
ment.  The  eyes  of  suffering  humanity  are  fixed  on  us  with 
anxiety  as  their  only  hope,  and  on  such  a  theatre  for  such  a 
cause  we  must  suppress  all  smaller  passions  and  local  considera 
tions.  The  leaders  of  Federalism  say  that  man  cannot  be  trusted 
with  his  own  government.  We  must  do  no  act  which  shall 
replace  them  in  the  direction  of  the  experiment.  We  must  not 


380  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

by  any  departure  from  principle,  disgust  the  mass  of  our  fellow 
citizens  who  have  confided  to  us  this  interesting  cause.  (To 
Governor  Hall.  F.  VIIL,  156.) 

SELF-GOVERNMENT. — In  the  great  work  which  has  been  effected 
in  America,  no  individual  has  a  right  to  take  any  great  share 
to  himself.  Our  people  in  a  body  are  wise,  because  they  are 
under  the  unrestrained  and  unperverted  operation  of  their  own 
understandings.  Those  whom  they  have  assigned  to  the  direc 
tion  of  their  affairs  have  stood  with  pretty  even  front.  If  any 
one  of  them  was  withdrawn,  many  others  entirely  equal,  have 
been  ready  to  fill  his  place  with  as  good  abilities.  A  nation, 
composed  of  such  materials,  and  free  in  all  its  members  from 
distressing  wants,  furnishes  hopeful  implements  for  the  inter 
esting  experiment  of  self-government;  and  we  feel  that  we  are 
acting  under  obligations  not  confined  to  the  limits  of  our  own 
society.  It  is  impossible  not  to  be  sensible  that  we  are  acting 
for  all  mankind;  that  circumstances  denied  to  others,  but  in 
dulged  to  us,  have  imposed  on  us  the  duty  of  proving  what  is 
the  degree  of  freedom  and  self-government  in  which  a  society 
may  venture  to  have  its  individual  members.  (To  Joseph 
Priestly,  1802.  F.  VIIL,  158.) 

SENATE. — I  think  the  Senate  has  no>  right  to  negative  the 
grade.  *  *  *  The  transaction  of  business  with  foreign 
nations  is  executive  altogether.  The  Senate  is  not  supposed  by 
the  Constitution  to  be  acquainted  with  the  concerns  of  the 
executive  department.  It  was  intended  that  these  should  be 
communicated  to  them;  nor  can  they,  therefore,  be  qualified 
to  judge  of  the  necessity  which  calls  for  a  mission  to  any  par 
ticular  place,  or  of  the  particular  grade,  more  or  less  marked, 
which  special  and  secret  circumstances  may  call  for.  All  this 
is  left  to  the  President;  they  are  only  to  see  that  no  unfit  person 
be  employed.  *  *  *  If  the  Constitution  had  meant  to  give 
the  Senate  a  negative  on  the  grade  or  destination,  as  well  as  in 
the  person,  it  would  have  said  so  in  direct  terms.  (From  an 
opinion  on  the  question  whether  the  Senate  has  the  right  to 
negative  the  grade  of  persons  appointed  by  the  President  to 
fill  foreign  missions,  1790.  F.  V.,  162.) 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  381 

SERVICE. — Nothing  could  so  completely  divest  us  of  liberty 
as  the  establishment  of  the  opinion  that  the  State  has  a  per 
petual  right  to  the  services  of  all  its  members.  This  to  men  of 
certain  ways  of  thinking  would  be  to  annihilate  the  blessings 
of  existence;  to  contradict  the  giver  of  life  who  gave  it  for 
happiness,  not  for  wretchedness;  and  certainly  to  such  it  were 
better  that  they  had  never  been  born.  (To  James  Monroe, 
1782.  F.  III.,  59.) 

SERVICES  OF  JEFFERSON. — I  have  sometimes  asked  myself 
whether  my  country  is  the  better  for  my  having  lived  at  all.  I 
do  not  know  that  it  is.  I  have  been  the  instrument  of  doing  the 
following  things;  but  they  would  have  been  done  by  others, 
some  of  them  perhaps  a  little  better: 

(1)  The  Rivanna  had  never  been  used  for  navigation;  scarce 
ly  an  empty  canoe  had  ever  passed  down  it.    Soon  after  I  came 
of  age,  I  examined  its  obstructions,  set  on  foot  a  subscription 
for  removing  them,  got  an  Act  of  Assembly  passed,  and  the 
thing  effected  so  as  to  be  used  completely  and  fully  for  carry 
ing  down  all  our  produce. 

(2)  The  Declaration  of  Independence. 

(3)  I  proposed  the  demolition  of  the  church  establishment 
and  the  freedom  of  religion.     *     *     *     I  prepared  the  act  for 
religious  freedom  in  1777,  which  was  not  reported  to  the  As 
sembly  till  1779,  and  that  particular  law  not  passed  till  1785, 
and  then  by  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Madison. 

(4)  The  Act  putting  an  end  to  entails. 

(5)  The  Act  prohibiting  the  importation  of  slaves. 

(6)  The  Act  concerning  citizens  and  establishing  the  natural 
right  of  man  to  expatriate  himself  at  will. 

(7)  The  Act  changing  the  course  of  descents  and  giving  the 
inheritance  to  all  the  children,  etc.,  equally,  I  drew. 

(8)  The  Act   for  apportioning  crimes  and  punishments,   I 
drew. 

(9)  In  1789  and  1790,  I  had  a  great  number  of  olive  plants 
of  the  best  kind  sent  from  Marseilles  to  Charleston,  for  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia.    They  were  planted,  and  though  not  yet 
flourishing,  will  be  the  germ  of  that  cultivation  in  those  states. 


382  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

(10)  In  1790  I  got  a  cask  of  heavy  upland  rice  from  the 
River  Denbigh  in  Africa,  about  lat,  9*  30'  north,  which  I  sent 
to  Charleston  in  hopes  it  might  supersede  the  culture  of  the 
wet  rice  which  renders  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  so  pesti 
lential  through  the  summer.  *  *  *  The  greatest  service 
which  can  be  rendered  any  country  is  to  add  an  useful  plant 
to  its  culture;  especially,  a  bread  grain;  next  in  value  to  bread 
oil. 

(n)  Whether  the  act  for  the  more  general  diffusion  of 
knowledge  will  ever  be  carried  into  complete  effect,  I  know  not, 
It  was  received  by  the  legislature  with  great  enthusiasm  at 
first;  and  a  small  effort  was  made  in  1796  by  the  act  to  estab 
lish  public  schools,  to  carry  a  part  of  it  into  effect,  viz.,  that 
for  the  establishment  of  free  English  schools;  but  the  option 
given  to  the  courts  has  defeated  the  intention  of  the  act. 
(Written  in  1800  (?).  F.  VII.,  476.) 

SLAVERY. — The  abolition  of  domestic  slavery  is  the  great  ob 
ject  of  desire  in  these  colonies,  where  it  was  unhappily  intro 
duced  in  their  infant  state.  But  previous  to  the  enfranchisement 
of  the  slaves  we  have,  it  is  necessary  to  exclude  all  further 
importation  from  Africa;  yet  our  repeated  attempts  to  effect 
this  by  prohibitions,  and  by  imposing  duties  which  might 
amount  to  a  prohibition,  have  hitherto  been  defeated  by  his 
majesty's  negative;  thus  preferring  the  immediate  advantages 
of  a  few  British  corsairs  to  the  lasting  interests  of  the  American 
States,  and  to  the  rights  of  human  nature  deeply  wounded  by 
this  infamous  practice.  (From  "A  Summary  View,"  1774.  F. 
I.,  440.) 

SLAVERY. — No  person  hereafter  coming  into  this  country  shall 
be  held  within  the  same  under  any  pretext  whatever.  (From  a 
proposed  Constitution  for  Virginia,  1776.  F.  II.,  26.) 

SLAVERY. — No  persons  shall,  henceforth,  be  slaves  within  this 
commonwealth,  except  such  as  were  so  on  the  first  day  of  this 
present  session  of  Assembly,  and  the  descendants  of  the  families 
of  them.  Negroes  and  mulattoes  which  shall  hereafter  be 
brought  into  this  commonwealth  and  kept  therein  one  whole 
year,  together,  or  so  long  at  different  times  as  shall  amount  to 


OF   THOMAS  JEFFERSON  383 

one  year,  shall  be  free.  But  if  they  shall  not  depart  the  com 
monwealth  within  one  year  they  shall  be  out  of  the  protection 
of  the  laws.  (From  a  bill  concerning  slaves,  rejected  by  the 
Assembly,  1779.  F.  II.,  201.) 

SLAVERY. — This  unfortunate  difference  of  colour,  and  perhaps 
of  faculty,  is  a  powerful  obstacle  to  the  emancipation  of  these 
people.  Many  of  their  advocates,  while  they  wish  to  vindicate 
the  liberty  of  human  nature,  are  anxious  also  to  preserve  its 
dignity  and  beauty.  Some  of  these,  embarrassed  by  the  ques 
tion,  "What  further  is  to  be  done  with  them?"  join  themselves 
in  opposition  with  those  who  are  actuated  by  sordid  avarice 
only.  Among  the  Romans  emancipation  required  but  one 
effort.  The  slave,  when  made  free,  might  mix  with,  without 
staining  the  blood  of  his  master.  But  with  us  a  second  is  neces 
sary,  unknown  to  history.  When  freed  he  is  to  be  removed 
beyond  the  reach  of  mixture.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia," 
1782.  F.  III.,  250.) 

SLAVERY. — It  is  impossible  to  be  temperate  and  pursue  this 
subject  through  the  various  considerations  of  policy,  of  morals, 
or  history,  natural  and  civil.  We  must  be  contented  to  hope 
they  W7ill  force  their  way  into  everyone's  mind.  I  think  a  change 
already  perceptible,  since  the  origin  of  the  present  revolution. 
The  spirit  of  the  master  is  abating,  that  of  the  slave  rising  from 
the  dust,  his  condition  mollifying,  the  way  I  hope  preparing 
under  the  auspices  of  heaven,  for  a  total  emanicipation,  and  that 
this  is  disposed,  in  the  order  of  events,  to  be  with  the  consents 
of  the  masters,  rather  than  by  their  extirpation.  (From  "Notes 
on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  267.) 

SLAVERY. — Indeed,  I  tremble  for  my  country  when  I  reflect 
that  God  is  just:  that  his  justice  cannot  sleep  forever:  that  con 
sidering  members,  nature,  and  natural  means  only,  a  revolution 
of  the  wheel  of  fortune,  an  exchange  of  situation,  is  among 
possible  events;  that  it  may  become  probable  by  supernatural 
interference.  The  Almighty  has  no  attribute  which  can  take 
side  with  us  in  such  a  contest  (with  slaves).  (From  "Notes  on 
Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  267.) 

SLAVERY. — With  what  execrations  should  the  statesman  be 


384  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

loaded,  who,  permitting  one-half  the  citizens  thus  to  trample  on 
the  rights  of  the  other,  transforms  those  into  despots,  and  these 
into  enemies,  destroys  the  morals  of  one  part,  and  the  amor 
patriae  of  the  other.  For  if  a  slave  can  have  a  country  in  this 
world,  it  must  be  any  other  in  preference  to  that  in  which  he 
is  born  to  live  and  labour  for  another:  in  which  he  must  lock 
up  the  faculties  of  his  nature,  contribute  as  far  as  depends  upon 
his  individual  endeavors  to  the  evanishment  of  the  human  race, 
or  entail  his  own  miserable  condition  on  the  endless  generations 
proceeding  from  him.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F. 
III.,  267.) 

SLAVERY. — With  the  morals  of  a  people,  their  industry  also 
is  destroyed.  For  in  a  warm  climate,  no  man  will  labour  for 
himself  who  can  make  another  labour  for  him.  This  is  so  true, 
that  of  the  proprietors  of  slaves  a  very  small  proportion  indeed 
are  ever  seen  to  labour.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia/'  1782. 
F.  III.,  267.) 

SLAVERY. — There  must  doubtless  be  an  unhappy  influence  o*n 
the  manners  of  our  people  produced  by  the  existence  of  slavery 
among  us.  The  whole  commerce  between  master  and  slave 
is  a  perpetual  exercise  of  the  most  boisterous  passions,  the  most 
unremitting  despotism  on  the  one  part,  and  degrading  submis 
sion  on  the  other.  Our  children  see  this,  and  learn  to  imitate 
it;  for  man  is  an  imitative  animal.  This  quality  is  the  germ  of 
all  education  in  him.  From  his  cradle  to  his  grave  he  is  learn 
ing  to  do  what  he  sees  others  do.  If  a  parent  could  find  no 
other  motive  either  in  his  philanthropy  or  his  self-love,  for 
restraining  the  intemperance  of  passion  towards  his  slave,  it 
should  always  be  a  sufficient  one  that  his  child  is  present.  But 
generally,  it  is  not  sufficient.  The  parent  storms,  the  child  looks 
on,  catches  the  lineaments  of  wrath,  puts  on  the  same  airs  in  the 
circle  of  smaller  slaves,  gives  a  loose  to  the  worst  of  passions, 
and  thus  nursed,  educated  and  daily  exercised  in  tyranny,  cannot 
but  be  stamped  by  it  with  odious  peculiarities.  (From  "Notes 
on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  267.) 

SLAVERY. — The  General  Assembly  shall  not  have  power  to  per 
mit  the  introduction  of  any  more  slaves  to  reside  in  this  State, 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  385 

or  the  continuance  of  slavery  beyond  the  generations  which 
shall  be  living  on  the  thirty-first  day  of  December,  one  thou 
sand,  eight  hundred;  all  persons  born  after  that  day  being 
hereby  declared  free.  (From  a  proposed  Constitution  for  Vir 
ginia,  1783.  F.  III.,  324.) 

SLAVERY. — After  the  year  1800  of  the  Christian  era,  there 
should  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  any  of 
the  said  states,  otherwise  than  in  punishment  of  crimes  whereof 
the  party  shall  have  been  convicted  to  have  been  pers9nally 
guilty.  (From  a  clause  in  a  report  to  Congress  for  a  plan  of 
government  for  western  territory,  1784.  F.  III.,  432.)* 

SLAVERY. — In  Maryland,  I  do  not  find  such  a  disposition  to 
begin  a  redress  of  this  enormity  (slavery)  as  in  Virginia.  This 
is  the  next  State  to  which  we  may  turn  our  eyes  for  the  interest 
ing  spectacle  of  justice  in  conflict  with  avarice  and  oppression; 
a  conflict  wherein  the  sacred  side  is  gaining  daily  recruits,  from 
the  influx  into  office  of  young  men  grown  and  growing  up. 
These  have  sucked  in  the  principles  of  liberty  as  it  were  with 
their  mothers'  milk;  and  it  is  to  them  I  look  with  anxiety  to 
tturn  the  fate  of  this  question.  (Written  from  Paris  to  Dr. 
Richard  Price,  1785.  F.  IV.,  83.) 

SLAVERY. — What  a  stupendous,  what  an  incomprehensible 
machine  is  man!  Who  can  endure  toil,  famine,  stripes,  im 
prisonment  and  death  itself  in  vindication  of  his  own  liberty, 
and  the  next  moment  be  deaf  to  all  those  motives  whose  power 
supported  him  through  his  trial,  and  inflict  on  his  fellow  men 
a  bondage,  one  hour  of  which  is  fraught  with  more  misery  than 
ages  of  that  which  he  rose  in  rebellion  to  oppose.  But  we  must 
wait  with  patience  the  workings  of  an  overruling  providence 
and  hope  that  that  is  preparing  the  deliverance  of  these  our 
suffering  brethren.  When  the  measure  of  their  tears  shall  be 
full,  when  their  groans  shall  have  involved  heaven  itself  in  dark 
ness,  doubtless  a  god  of  justice  will  awaken  to  their  distress, 
and  by  diffusing  light  and  liberality  among  their  oppressors,  or 


*If  this  clause  had  been  adopted,  slavery  would  have  been  excluded  from 
all  the  admitted  States  of  the  Union.     It  failed  by  one  vote. 


386  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

at  length  by  his  exterminating  thunder,  manifest  his  attention 
to  the  things  of  this  world  and  that  they  are  not  left  to  the 
guidance  of  a  blind  fatality.  (Written  in  Paris  to  M.  de  Meus- 
nier,  1786.  F.  IV.,  185.) 

SLAVERY. — Sir :  I  am  very  sensible  of  the  honor  you  propose 
to  me  of  becoming  a  member  of  the  society  for  the  abolition 
of  the  slave  trade.  You  know  that  nobody  wishes  more 
ardently  to  see  an  abolition  not  only  of  the  trade  but  of  the 
conditions  of  slavery;  and  certainly  nobody  will  be  more  willing 
to  encounter  every  sacrifice  for  that  object.  But  the  influence 
and  information  of  the  friends  to  this  proposition  in  France  will 
be  far  above  the  needs  of  my  association.  I  am  here  as  a  public 
servant;  and  those  whom  I  serve  never  having  yet  been  able 
to  give  their  voice  against  this  practice,  it  is  decent  for  me  to 
avoid  too  public  a  demonstration  of  my  wishes  to  see  it  abol 
ished.  Without  serving  the  cause  here,  it  might  render  me  less 
able  to  serve  it  beyond  the  water.  (To  Jean  Pierre  Bussot, 
Paris,  1788.  F.  V.,  6.) 

SLAVERY. — I  have  long  since  given  up  the  expectation  of  any 
early  provision  for  the  extinguishment  of  slavery  among  us. 
There  are  many  virtuous  men  who  would  make  any  sacrifices 
to  effect  it,  many  equally  virtuous  who  persuade  themselves 
either  that  the  thing  is  not  wrong,  or  that  it  cannot  be  remedied, 
and  very  many  with  whom  interest  is  morality.  The  older  we 
grow,  the  larger  we  are  disposed  to  believe  the  last  party  to  be. 
But  interest  is  really  going  over  to  the  side  of  morality.  The 
value  of  the  slave  is  every  day  lessening;  his  burden  on  his 
master  daily  increasing.  Interest  is  therefore  preparing  the 
disposition  to  be  just;  and  this  will  be  goaded  from  time  to  time 
by  the  insurrectionary  spirit  of  the  slaves.  This  is  easily 
quelled  in  its  first  efforts;  but  from  being  local  it  will  become 
general,  and  whenever  it  does  it  will  rise  more  formidable  after 
every  defeat,  until  we  shall  be  forced,  after  dreadful  scenes  and 
sufferings  to  release  them  in  their  own  way,  which,  without 
such  sufferings  we  might  now  model  after  our  own  conven 
ience.  (To  W.  A.  Burwell,  1805.  F.  VIII.,  340.) 

SLAVERY. — I  congratulate  you,  fellow-citizens,  on  the  approach 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  387 

of  the  period  at  which  you  may  interpose  your  authority  con 
stitutionally,  to  withdraw  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  from 
all  further  participation  in  those  violations  of  human  rights 
which  have  been  so  long  continued  on  the  unoffending  in 
habitants  of  Africa,  and  which  the  morality,  the  reputation,  and 
the  best  interests  of  our  country  have  long  been  eager  to  pro 
scribe.  (Sixth  Annual  Message,  1806.  F.  VIII.,  492.) 

SLAVERY. — My  sentiments  on  the  subject  of  slavery  of  negroes 
have  long  since  been  in  the  possession  of  the  public,  and  time 
has  only  served  to  give  them  strong  root.  The  love  of  justice 
and  the  love  of  country  plead  equally  the  cause  of  these  people, 
and  it  is  a  moral  reproach  to  us  that  they  should  have  pleaded 
it  so  long  in  vain,  and  should  have  produced  not  a  single  effort, 
nay,  I  fear  not  much  serious  willingness  to  relieve  them  and 
ourselves  from  our  present  condition  of  moral  and  political 
reprobation.  From  those  of  the  former  generations  who  were 
in  the  fullness  of  age  when  I  came  into  public  life,  which  was 
while  our  controversy  with  England  was  on  paper  only,  I  soon 
saw  that  nothing  was  to  be  hoped.  Nursed  and  educated  in  the 
daily  habit  of  seeing  the  degraded  condition,  both  bodily  and 
mentally,  of  those  unfortunate  beings,  not  reflecting  that  that 
degradation  was  very  much  the  work  of  themselves  and  their 
fathers,  few  minds  have  yet  doubted  but  that  they  \vere  as 
legitimate  subjects  of  property  as  their  horses  and  cattle.  The 
quiet  and  monotonous  course  of  colonial  life  has  been  disturbed 
by  no  alarm  and  little  reflection  on  the  value  of  liberty.  And 
alarm  was  taken  at  an  enterprise  on  their  own,  it  was  not  easy 
to  carry  them  to  the  whole  length  of  the  principles  which  they 
invoked  for  themselves.  In  the  first  or  second  session  of  the 
legislature  after  I  became  a  member,  I  drew  on  this  subject  the 
attention  of  Col.  Bland,  one  of  the  oldest,  ablest  and  most  re 
spected  members,  and  he  undertook  to  move  for  certain  moder 
ate  extensions  of  protections  of  the  laws  of  these  people.  I 
seconded  his  motion,  and  as  a  younger  member  was  more  spared 
in  the  debate;  but  he  was  denounced  as  an  enemy  of  his  coun 
try  and  was  treated  with  the  grossest  indecorum.  From  an 
early  stage  of  our  revolution  other  and  more  distant  duties  were 


388  THE    LIFE    AND   WRITINGS 

assigned  to  me,  so  that  from  that  time  till  my  return  from 
Europe  in  1789,  and  I  may  say  till  I  returned  to  reside  at 
home  in  1809,  I  had  little  opportunity  of  knowing  the  progress 
of  public  sentiment  here  on  this  subject.  I  had  always  hoped 
that  the  younger  generation  receiving  their  early  impressions 
after  the  flame  of  liberty  had  been  kindled  in  every  breast,  and 
become  as  it  were  the  vital  spirit  of  every  American,  that  the 
generous  temperament  of  youth,  analogous  to  the  motion  of 
their  blood,  and  above  the  suggestions  of  avarice  would  have 
sympathized  with  oppression  wherever  found  and  proved  their 
love  for  liberty  beyond  their  own  share  of  it.  But  my  inter 
course  with  them  since  my  return  has  not  been  sufficient  to 
ascertain  that  they  had  made  toward  this  point  the  progress  I 
had  hoped.  Your  solitary  but  welcome  voice  is  the  first  which 
has  brought  this  to  my  ear;  and  I  have  considered  the  general 
silence  which  prevails  on  this  subject  as  indicating  an  apathy 
unfavorable  to  every  hope.  Yet  the  hour  of  emancipation  is 
advancing  in  tne  march  of  time.  It  wrill  come;  and  whether 
brought  on  by  the  generous  energy  of  our  own  minds,  or  by 
the  bloody  process  of  St.  Domingo,  excited  and  conducted 
by  the  power  of  our  present  enemy,  if  one  stationed  permanently 
within  our  country  and  offering  asylums  and  arms  to  the  op 
pressed,  is  a  leaf  of  history  not  yet  turned  over.  As  to  the 
method  by  which  this  difficult  work  is  to  be  effected  if  per 
mitted  to  be  done  by  ourselves,  I  have  seen  no  proposition  so 
expedient  on  the  whole  as  that  of  emancipation  of  those  born 
after  a  given  day,  and  of  their  education  and  expatriation  after 
a  given  age.  This  would  give  time  for  a  gradual  extinction  of 
that  species  of  labor  and  substitution  of  another,  and  lessen  the 
severity  of  the  shock  which  an  operation  so  fundamental  cannot 
fail  to  produce.  For  men  probably  of  any  color,  but  of  this  color 
we  know,  brought  from  their  infancy  without  necessity  fore 
thought  or  forecast  are  by  their  habits  rendered  as  incapable 
as  children  of  taking  care  of  themselves,  and  are  extinguished 
promptly  wherever  industry  is  necessary  for  raising  young.  In 
the  meantime  they  are  pests  in  society  by  their  idleness  and 
the  depredations  to  which  this  leads  them.  Their  amalgama- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  389 

tion  with  the  other  color  produces  a  degradation  to  which  no 
lover  of  his  country,  no  lover  of  excellence  in  the  human  char 
acter  can  innocently  consent.  I  am  sensible  of  the  partialities 
with  which  you  have  looked  towards  me  as  the  person  who 
should  undertake  this  salutary  and  arduous  work.  But  this, 
my  dear  sir,  is  like  bidding  old  Priam  to  buckle  on  the  armor 
of  Hector,  "trementibus  acvo  humeris  et  inutile  ferrum  cingi." 
No,  I  have  over-lived  the  generation  writh  which  mutual  labors 
and  perils  beget  mutual  confidence  and  influence.  This  enter 
prise  is  for  the  young,  for  those  who  can  follow  it  up  and  bear 
it  through  to  its  consummation.  It  shall  have  all  my  prayers, 
and  these  are  the  only  weapons  of  an  old  man.  But  in  the 
meantime  are  you  right  in  abandoning  this  property  and  your 
country  with  it?  I  think  not.  My  opinion  has  ever  been  that 
until  more  can  be  done  for  them  we  should  endeavor  with  those 
whom  fortune  has  thrown  on  our  hands  to  feed  and  clothe  them 
well,  protect  them  from  all  ill  usage,  require  such  reasonable 
labor  only  as  is  performed  voluntarily  by  freemen,  and  be  led 
by  no  repugnancies  to  abdicate  them  and  our  duties  to>  them. 
The  laws  do  not  permit  us  to  turn  them  loose  if  that  were  for 
their  good,  and  to  commute  them  for  other  property  is  to  com 
mit  them  to  whose  usage  of  them  we  cannot  control.  I  hope 
then,  my  dear  sir,  you  will  reconcile  yourself  to  your  country 
and  its  unfortunate  condition,  that  you  will  not  lessen  its  stock 
of  sound  disposition  by  withdrawing  your  portion  from  the 
mass.  That,  on  the  contrary,  you  will  come  forward  in  the 
public  councils,  become  the  missionary  of  the  doctrine  truly 
Christian,  insinuate  and  inculcate  it  softly  but  steadily  through 
the  medium  of  writing  and  conversation,  associate  others  in 
your  labors,  and  when  the  phalanx  is  formed  bring  in  and  press 
the  proposition  perseveringly  until  its  accomplishment.  It  is 
an  encouraging  observation  that  no  good  measure  was  ever 
proposed  which  if  duly  pursued  failed  to  prevail  in  the  end. 
We  have  proof  of  this  in  the  history  of  the  endeavors  in  the 
English  parliament  to  suppress  that  very  trade  which  brought 
this  evil  on  us.  And  you  will  be  supported  by  the  religious 
precept  "Be  not  weary  in  well  doing."  That  your  success  may 


390  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

be  as  speedy  and  complete  as  it  will  be  of  honorable  and  im 
mortal  consolation  to  yourself,  I  shall  as  fervently  and  sincerely 
pray  as  I  assure  you  of  my  great  friendship  and  respect.  (To 
Edward  Coles,  1814.  F.  IX.,  477.) 

SLAVERY. — This  momentous  question,  like  a  fire-bell  in  the 
night,  awakened  and  filled  me  with  terror.  I  considered  it  at  once 
as  the  knell  of  the  Union.  It  is  hushed  indeed  for  the  moment. 
But  this  is  a  reprieve  only,  not  a  final  sentence.  A  geographical 
line,  coinciding  with  a  marked  principle,  moral  and  political, 
once  conceived  and  held  up  to  the  angry  passions  of  men,  will 
never  be  obliterated;  and  every  new  irritation  will  mark  it  deeper 
and  deeper.  I  can  say,  with  conscious  truth,  that  there  is  not 
a  man  on  earth  who  would  sacrifice  more  than  I  would  to  relieve 
us  from  this  heavy  reproach,  in  any  practicable  way.  The 
cession  of  that  kind  of  property,  for  so  it  is  misnamed,  is  a 
bagatelle  which  would  not  cost  me  a  second  thought,  if,  in  that 
way,  a  general  emancipation  and  expatriation  could  be  effected; 
and,  gradually,  and  with  due  sacrifices,  I  think  it  might  be.  But 
as  it  is,  we  have  the  wolf  by  the  ears,  and  we  can  neither  hold 
him,  nor  safely  let  him  go.  Justice  is  in  one  scale,  and  self- 
preservation  in  the  other.  (To  John  Holmes,  1820.  C.  VII., 

1590 

SOUTH  AMERICA. — The  Southern  provinces,  I  fear,  must  end 
in  military  despotisms.  The  different  castes  of  their  inhab 
itants,  their  mutual  hatreds  and  jealousies,  their  profound  ignor 
ance  and  bigotry  will  be  played  off  by  cunning  leaders,  and 
each  be  made  the  instrument  of  enslaving  the  other.  But  of  all 
this,  you  can  best  judge,  for  in  truth  we  have  little  knowledge 
of  them  to  be  depended  on,  but  through  you.  But  in  whatever 
governments  they  end  they  will  be  American  governments,  no 
longer  to  be  involved  in  the  never-ceasing  broils  of  Europe.  The 
European  nations  constitute  a  separate  division  of  the  globe ;  their 
localities  make  them  part  of  a  distinct  system ;  they  have  a  set  of 
interests  of  their  own  in  which  it  is  our  business  never  to  engage 
ourselves.  America  has  a  hemisphere  to  itself.  It  must  have  its 
separate  system  of  interests,  which  must  not  be  subordinate  to 
those  of  Europe.  The  insulated  state  in  which  nature  has  placed 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  391 

the  American  Continent,  should  so  far  avail  it  that  no  spark  of 
war  kindled  in  the  other  quarters  of  the  globe  should  be  wafted 
across  the  wide  ocean  which  separates  us  from  them,  and  it  will  be 
so.  (To  Baron  de  Humboldt,  1813,  C.  VI.,  267.) 

SOVEREIGNTY. — But  your  majesty,  or  your  governors,  have 
carried  this  power  beyond  every  limit  known,  or  provided  for, 
by  the  laws.  After  dissolving  one  house  of  representatives 
they  have  refused  to  call  another,  so  that  for  a  great  length  of 
time,  the  legislature  provided  by  the  laws  has  been  out  of 
existence.  From  the  nature  of  things  every  society  must  at 
all  times  possess  within  itself  the  sovereign  powers  of  legisla 
tion.  While  these  bodies  are  in  existence  to  whom  the  people 
have  delegated  the  powers  of  legislation,  they  alone  possess 
and  may  exercise  those  powers;  but  when  they  are  dissolved  by 
the  lopping  off  of  one  or  more  of  their  branches,  the  power 
reverts  to  the  people,  who  may  exercise  it  to  unlimited  extent, 
either  assembling  together  in  person,  sending  deputies,  or  in 
any  other  way  they  may  think  proper,  and  the  frame  of  govern 
ment  thus  dissolved,  should  the  people  take  upon  them  to  lay 
the  throne  of  your  government  prostrate,  or  to  discontinue  their 
connection  with  the  British  empire,  none  will  be  so  bold  as  to 
decide  against  the  right  or  efficacy  of  such  avulsion.  (From 
"A  Summary  View,"  1774.  F.  L,  443.) 

SOVEREIGNTY. — That  as  the  United  States  in  Congress  assem 
bled  represent  the  sovereignty  of  the  whole  Union,  their  body 
collectively  and  their  President  individually  should  on  all  oc 
casions  have  precedence  of  all  other  bodies  and  persons.  (From 
"Resolve  on  Continental  Congress,"  1784  (?).  F.  III.,  464.) 
SOVEREIGNTY. — It  is  the  right  of  every  nation  to  prohibit  acts 
of  sovereignty  from  being  exercised  by  any  other  within  its 
limits;  and  the  duty  of  a  neutral  nation  to  prohibit  such  as 
would  injure  one  of  the  warring  powers;  the  granting  military 
commissions  within  the  United  States  by  any  other  authority 
than  their  own  is  an  infringement  on  their  sovereignty,  and  par 
ticularly  so  when  granted  to  their  own  citizens  to  lead  them  to 
commit  an  act  contrary  to  the  duties  they  owe  their  own  coun- 


392  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

try.     (Address  to  the  French  Minister,  Genet,  1792.     F.  VL, 

283.) 

-^  SOVEREIGNTY  OF  THE  PEOPLE. — I  consider  the  people  who  con-  * 
stitute  a  society  or  nation  as  the  source  of  all  authority  in  that 
nation,  as  free  to  transact  their  common  concerns  by  any  agents 
they  think  proper,  to  change  their  agents  individually,  or  the 
organization  of  them  in  form  or  function  whenever  they  please; 
that  all  the  acts  done  by  those  agents  under  the  authority  of 
the  nation,  are  the  acts  of  the  nation,  are  obligatory  upon  them 
and  enure  to  their  use  and  can  in  no  wise  be  annulled  or 
affected  by  any  change  in  the  form  of  the  government  or  of  the 
persons  administering  it.  Consequently,  the  treaties  between 
the  United  States  and  France  were  not  treaties  between  the 
United  States  and  Louis  Capet,  but  between  the  two  nations 
of  America  and  France,  and  the  nations  remaining  in  existence, 
though  both  of  them  have  since  changed  their  form  of  govern 
ment,  the  treaties  are  not  annulled  by  those  changes.  (From  an 
opinion  on  French  Treaties,  1793.  F.  VI. ,  220.) 

***  SOVEREIGNTY. — The  whole  body  of  the  nation  is  the  sovereign 
legislature,  judiciary  and  executive  for  itself.  The  inconven 
ience  of  meeting  to  exercise  these  powers  in  person,  and  their 
inaptitude  to  exercise  them,  induce  them  to  appoint  special 
organs  to  declare  their  legislative  will,  to  judge  and  execute  it. 
It  is  the  will  of  the  nation  which  makes  the  law  obligatory;  it  I 
is  their  will  which  creates  or  annihilates  the  organ  which  is  to<i 
declare  or  announce  it.  They  may  do  it  by  a  single  person^- 
as  an  Emperor  of  Russia  (constituting  his  declarations  evidence 
of  their  will)  or  by  a  few  persons,  as  the  Aristocracy  of  Venice, 
or  by  a  complication  of  councils,  as  in  our  former  regal  govern 
ment,  or  our  past  Republican  one.  The  law  being  law,  because  it 
is  the  will  of  the  nation,  is  not  changed  by  their  changing  the 
organ  through  which  they  choose  to  announce  their  future  will; 
no  more  than  the  acts  I  have  done  by  one  attorney  lose  their 
obligations  by  my  changing  or  discontinuing  that  attorney? 
(To  Edmund  Randolph.  F.  VII.,  385.) 

SOVEREIGNTY. — With  respect  to  our  State  and  Federal  gov 
ernments,  I  do  not  think  our  relations  correctly  understood  by 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  393 

foreigners.  They  generally  suppose  the  former  subordinate  to 
the  latter.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  They  are  co-ordinate  de 
partments  of  one  simple  and  integral  whole.  To  the  State 
governments  are  reserved  all  legislation  and  administration,  in 
affairs  which  concern  their  own  citizens  only,  and  to  the  Fed 
eral  government  is  given  whatever  concerns  foreigners,  or  the 
citizens  of  other  States;  these  functions  alone  being  made  Fed 
eral.  The  one  is  the  domestic,  the  other  the  foreign  branch  of 
the  same  government;  neither  having  control  over  the  other, 
but  within  its  own  department.  There  are  one  or  two  excep 
tions  only  to  this  partition  of  power.  But,  you  may  ask,  if  the 
two  departments  should  claim  each  the  same  subject  of  power, 
where  is  :he  common  umpire  to  decide  ultimately  between 
them?  In  cases  of  little  importance  or  urgency,  the  prudence 
of  both  parties  will  keep  them  aloof  from  the  questionable 
ground;  but  if  it  can  neither  be  avoided  nor  compromised,  a 
convention  of  the  States  must  be  called,  to  ascribe  the  doubtful 
power  to  that  department  which  they  may  think  best.  You 
w7ill  perceive  by  these  details,  that  we  have  not  yet  so  far  per 
fected  our  constitutions  as  to  venture  to  make  them  unchange 
able.  But  still,  in  their  present  state,  we  consider  them  not 
otherwise  changeable  than  by  the  authority  of  the  people  on 
a  special  election  of  representatives  for  that  purpose  expressly; 
they  are  until  then  the  lex  legum.  (To^  John  Cartwright,  1824. 
C.  VII.,  358.) 

SPAIN. — Our  relations  with  Spain  are  vitally  interesting. 
That  they  should  be  of  a  peaceable  and  friendly  character  has 
been  our  most  earnest  desire.  Had  Spain  met  us  with  the 
same  disposition,  our  idea  was  that  her  existence  in  this  hem 
isphere  and  ours,  should  have  rested  on  the  same  bottom; 
should  have  sunk  or  swum  together.  We  want  nothing  of 
hers,  and  we  want  no  other  nation  to  possess  what  is  hers.  But 
she  has  met  our  advances  with  jealousy,  secret  malice  and  ill- 
faith.  Our  patience  under  this  unworthy  return  of  disposition 
is  now  on  its  last  trial.  And  the  issue  of  what  is  now  depending 
between  us  will  decide  whether  our  relations  with  her  are  to 
be  sincerely  friendly,  or  permanently  hostile.  I  still  wish  and 


394  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

would  cherish  the  former,  but  have  ceased  to  expect  it.  (To 
U.  S.  Minister  to  Spain,  1805.  F.  VIII.,  351.) 

SPAIN. — Nature  has  formed  that  peninsula  to  be  the  second, 
and  why  not  the  first  nation  in  Europe?  Give  equal  habits  of 
energy  to  bodies,  and  of  science  to  the  minds  of  her  citizens, 
and  where  could  her  superior  be  found?  The  most  advantage 
ous  relation  in  which  she  can  stand  with  her  American  colonies 
is  that  of  independent  friendship,  secured  by  the  ties  of  con 
sanguinity,  sameness  of  language,  religion,  manners,  and  habits, 
and  certain  from  the  influences  of  these,  of  a  preference  in  her 
commerce,  if,  instead  of  the  eternal  irritations,  thwartings, 
machinations  against  their  new  governments,  the  insults  and 
aggressions  which  Great  Britain  has  so  unwisely  practiced  to 
wards  us,  to  force  us  to  hate  her  against  our  natural  inclinations, 
Spain  yields,  like  a  genuine  parent,  to-  the  forisfamiliation  of  her 
colonies,  now  at  maturity,  if  she  extends  to  them  her  affections, 
her  aid,  her  patronage  in  every  court  and  country,  it  will  weave 
a  bond  of  union  indissoluble  by  time.  (To  Valentine  de  To- 
ronda  Corena,  1813.  C.  VI.,  274.) 

SPAIN. — If  the  mother  country  has  not  the  magnanimity  to 
part  with  the  colonies  in  friendship,  thereby  making  them,  what 
they  would  certainly  be,  her  natural  and  firmest  allies,  these 
will  emancipate  themselves,  after  exhausting  her  strength  and 
resources  in  ineffectual  efforts  to  hold  them  in  subjection.  They 
will  be  rendered  enemies  of  the  mother  country,  as  England 
has  rendered  us  by  an  unremitting  course  of  insulting  injuries 
and  silly  provocations.  I  do  not  say  this  from  the  impulse  of 
national  interest,  for  I  do  not  know  that  the  United  States  would 
find  an  interest  in  the  independence  of  neighbor  nations,  whose 
produce  and  commerce  would  rivalize  ours.  It  could  only  be 
that  link  of  interest  which  every  human  being  has  in  the  hap 
piness  and  prosperity  of  every  other.  But  putting  right  and 
reason  out  of  the  question,  I  have  no  doubt  that  on  calculations 
of  interest  alone,  it  is  that  of  Spain  to  anticipate  voluntarily,  and 
as  a  matter  of  grace,  the  independence  of  her  colonies,  which 
otherwise  necessity  will  enforce.  (To  Chevalier  de  Onis,  1814. 
C.  VL,  342.) 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  395 

SPAIN. — So  long  as  her  colonies  are  dependent,  Spain,  from 
her  jealousy,  is  our  natural  enemy,  and  always  in  either  open 
or  secret  hostility  with  us.  These  countries,  too,  in  war  will 
be  a  powerful  weight  in  her  scale,  and,  in  peace,  totally  shut 
to  us.  Interest,  then,  on  the  whole,  would  wish  their  inde 
pendence,  and  justice  makes  the  wish  a  duty.  They  have  a 
right  to  be  free,  and  we  have  a  right  to  aid  them,  as  a  strong 
man  has  a  right  to  assist  a  weak  one  assailed  by  a  robber  or 
a  murderer.  That  a  war  is  brewing  between  us  and  Spain 
cannot  be  doubted.  When  that  disposition  is  matured  on 
both  sides,  and  your  rupture  can  no  longer  be  deferred,  then 
will  be  the  time  for  our  joining  the  South  Americans,  and 
entering  in^o  treaties  of  alliance  with  them.  There  will  then 
be  but  one  opinion  at  home  or  abroad,  that  we  shall  be  justi 
fiable  in  choosing  to  have  them  with  us,  rather  than  against 
us.  In  the  meantime,  they  wall  have  organized  regular  govern 
ments,  and  perhaps  have  formed  themselves  into  one  or  more 
confederacies;  more  than  one,  I  hope,  as  in  single  mass  they 
would  be  a  very  formidable  neighbor.  (To  James  Monroe. 
1816.  C.  VI.,  550.) 

"""•*  SPIRIT  OF  THE  LAW. — Substance  not  circumstance  is  to  be^ 
regarded  while  we  have  so  many  foes  in  our  bowels  and  environ- , 
ing  us  on  every  side.     He  is  a  bad  citizen  who  can  entertain 
a  doubt  whether  the  law  will  justify  him  in  saving  his  country 
or  who  will  scruple  to  risk  himself  in  support  of  the  spirit  of 
the  law  where  avoidable  accidents  have  prevented  a  literal  com 
pliance  with  it.     (From  a  circular  letter  addressed  to  county 
magistrates  during   an   invasion   of  Virginia,    1781.      F.   II., 

43I-) 

STATE  GOVERNMENT. — But  the  true  barriers  of  our  liberty  in 
this  country  are  our  State  Governments,  and  the  wisest  con 
servative  power  ever  contrived  by  man  is  that  of  which  our 
Revolution  and  present  government  found  us  possessed.  Sev 
enteen  distinct  States,  amalgamated  into  one  as  to  their  foreign 
concerns,  but  single  and  independent  as  to  their  internal  admin 
istrations,  regularly  organized  with  a  Legislature  and  Governor 
resting  on  the  choice  of  the  people,  and  enlightened  by  a  free 


396  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

press,  can  never  be  so  fascinated  by  the  arts  of  one  man  as  to 
submit  voluntarily  to  his  usurpation.  Nor  can  they  be  con 
strained  to  it  by  any  force  he  can  possess.  While  that  may  par 
alyze  the  single  State  in  which  it  happens  to  be  encamped,  six 
teen  others,  spread  over  a  country  of  two  thousand  miles  diam 
eter,  rise  up  on  every  side,  ready  organized  for  deliberation  by  a 
constitutional  Legislature,  and  for  action  by  their  Governor, 
constitutionally  the  commander  of  the  militia  of  the  State,  that 
is  to  say,  of  every  man  in  it  able  to  bear  arms;  and  that  militia, 
too,  regularly  formed  into  regiments  and  battalions,  into  infan 
try,  cavalry  and  artillery,  trained  under  officers  general  and  sub 
ordinate,  legally  appointed,  always  in  readiness,  and  to  whom 
they  are  already  in  habits  of  obedience.  The  Republican  gov 
ernment  of  France  was  lost  without  a  struggle,  because  the 
party  of  "un  et  indivisible"  had  prevailed ;  no  provincial  organ 
izations  existed  to  which  the  people  might  rally  under  authority 
of  the  laws,  the  seats  of  the  directory  were  virtually  vacant,  and 
a  small  force  sufficed  to  turn  the  Legislature  out  of  their  cham 
bers,  and  to  salute  its  leader  chief  of  the  nation.  But  with  us/ 
sixteen  out  of  seventeen  States  rising  in  mass,  under  regular 
organization,  and  legal  commanders,  united  in  object  and 
action  by  their  Congress,  or,  if  that  be  in  duresse,  by  a  special 
convention,  present  such  obstacles  to  an  usurper  as  forever  to 
stifle  ambition  in  the  just  conception  of  that  object. 

Dangers  of  another  kind  might  more  reasonably  be  appre 
hended  from  this  perfect  and  distinct  organization,  civil  and 
military,  of  the  States,  to  wit,  that  certain  States  from  local 
and  occasional  discontents,  might  attempt  to  secede  from  the 
Union.  This  is  certainly  possible,  and  would  b&  befriended  by 
this  regular  organization.  But  it  is  not  probable  that  local  dis 
contents  can  spread  to  such  an  extent,  as  to  be  able  to  face 
the  sound  parts  of  so  extensive  an  Union;  and  if  ever  they  should 
reach  the  majority,  they  would  then  become  the  regular  gov 
ernment,  acquire  the  ascendency  in  Congress,  and  be  able  to 
redress  their  own  grievances,  by  laws  peaceably  and  constitu 
tionally  passed.  And  even  the  States  in  which  local  discontents 
might  engender  a  commencement  of  fermentation  would  be 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  397 

paralyzed  and  self-checked  by  that  very  division  into  parties 
into  which  we  have  fallen,  into  which  all  States  must  fall,  ac 
cording  to  the  diversities  of  their  individual  conformations,  and 
which  are,  perhaps,  essential  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the 
government,  by  the  censorship  which  these  parties  habitually 
exercise  over  each  other.  (To  Destutt  Tracy,  1811.  C.  V., 

570-) 

STATES. — With  respect  to  the  Ultramontane  States,  will  their 
inhabitants  be  happiest  divided  into  States  of  30,000  square 
miles,  not  quite  as  large  as  Pennsylvania,  or  into  States  of 
160,000  square  miles  each,  that  is  to  say,  three  times  as  large 
as  Virginia  within  the  Allegheny?  They  will  not  only  be  hap 
pier  in  States  of  a  moderate  size,  but  it  is  the  only  way  they  can 
exist  as  a  regular  society.  Considering  the  American  character 
in  general,  that  of  those  people  in  particular,  and  the  energetic 
nature  of  our  governments,  a  State  of  such  extent  as  160,000 
square  miles  would  soon  crumble  into  pieces.  (Written  from 
Paris  to  James  Monroe.  F.  IV.,  247.) 

TATE'S  RIGHTS. — I  wish  to  preserve  the  line  drawn  by  the 
Federal  Constitution  between  the  general  and  particular  gov 
ernments  as  it  stands  at  present,  and  to  take  every  prudent 
means  of  preventing  either  from  stepping  over  it.  *  *  *± 
It  is  easy  to  foresee  from  the  nature  of  things  that  the  en 
croachments  of  the  State  government  will  tend  to  an  excess 
of  liberty  which  will  correct  itself,  while  those  of  the  general 
government  will  tend  to  monarchy,  which  will  fortify  itself 
from  day  to  day,  instead  of  working  its  own  cure,  as  all  experi 
ence  shows.  I  would  rather  be  exposed  to  the  inconveniences 
attending  too  much  liberty  than  those  attending  too  small  a 
degree  of  it.  (To  Archibald  Stuart,  1791.  F.  V.,  409.) 

STATE'S  RIGHTS. — I  do  not  think  it  for  the  interest  of  the 
general  government  itself  and  still  less  for  the  Union  at  large, 
that  the  State  governments  should  be  so  little  respected  as  they 
have  been.  However,  I  dare  say  that  in  time  all  these  as  well 
as  their  central  government,  like  the  planets  revolving  around 
their  common  sun,  acted  and  acting  upon  according  to  their 
respective  weights  and  distances,  v;i1!  produce  that  beautiful 


398  THE   LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

•*• 

equilibrium  on  which  our  Constitution  is  founded  and  which 
I  believe  it  will  exhibit  to  the  world  in  a  degree  of  perfection, 
unexampled  but  in  the  planetary  system  itself.  The  enlight 
ened  statesman,  therefore,  will  endeavor  to  preserve  the  weight 
and  influence  of  every  part,  as  too  much  given  to  any  member 
of  it  would  destroy  the  general  equilibrium.  (To*  Peregrine^ 
Fitzhugh,  1798.  F.  VII.,  210.) 

STATE'S  RIGHTS. — It  is  of  immense  consequence  that  the  States 
retain  as  complete  authority  as  possible  over  their  own  citizens. 
The  withdrawing  themselves  under  a  foreign  jurisdiction  is  so 
subversive  of  order  and  so  pregnant  of  abuse  that  it  may  not 
be  amiss  to  consider  how  far  a  law  of  praemunire  should  be 
revived  and  modified  against  citizens  who  attempt  to  carry  their 
causes  before  any  other  than  the  State  courts  in  cases  where 
those  other  courts  have  no  right  to  their  cognizance.  A  plea 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  their  State,  or  a  reclamation 
of  a  foreign  jurisdiction,  if  adjudged  valid,  would  be  safe;  but 
if  adjudged  invalid  would  be  followed  by  the  punishment  of 
praemunire  for  the  attempt.  (To  James  Monroe,  1797.  F. 
VII.,  173-) 

STATE'S  RIGHTS. — We  are  willing  to  sacrifice  to  the  Union 
and  the  Constitution  everything  but  the  rights  of  self-govern 
ment  in  those  important  points  which  we  have  never  yielded, 
and  in  which  alone  we  see  liberty,  safety  and  happiness;  we 
are  not  at  all  disposed  to  make  every  measure  of  error  or  of 
wrong,  a  cause  of  scission;  we  are  willing  to  look  on  with 
indulgence  and  wait  with  patience  till  those  passions  and  de 
lusions  shall  have  passed  over,  which  the  Federal  Government 
have  artfully  excited  to  cover  its  own  abuses  and  conceal  its 
designs,  fully  confident  that  the  good  sense  of  the  American 
people  and  their  attachment  to  those  very  rights,  which  we  are 
now  vindicating,  will,  before  it  shall  be  too  late,  rally  with  us 
around  the  true  principles  of  our  Federal  compact.  (To  W.  C. 
Nicholas,  1799.  F.  VII.,  390.) 

STATE'S  RIGHTS. — Our  country  is  too  large  to  have  all  its 
affairs  directed  by  a  single  government.  Public  service  at  such 
a  distance,  and  from  under  the  eye  of  their  constituents,  must, 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  399 

from  the  circumstance  of  distance,  be  unable  to  administer  and 
overlook  all  the  details  necessary  for  the  good  government  of 
the  citizens  and  the  same  circumstance,  by  rendering  detection 
impossible  to  their  constituents,  will  invite  the  public  agents 
to  corruption,  plunder  and  waste.  And  I  do  verily  believe  that** 
if  the  principle  were  to  prevail  of  a  common  law-being  in  force 
in  the  United  States  (which  principle  possesses  the  general 
government  at  once  of  all  the  powers  of  the  State  govern 
ments)  it  would  become  the  most  corrupt  government  on  the 
earth.  *  *  *  What  an  augmentation  of  the  field,  for  job 
bing,  speculating,  plundering,  office-building  and  office-hunt 
ing  would  be  produced  by  an  assumption  of  all  the  State  pow 
ers  into  the  hand  of  the  general  government !  The  true  theor/^ 
of  our  Constitution  is  surely  the  wisest  and  best,  that  the  States 
are  independent  as  to  everything  within  themselves  and  united 
as  to  everything  respecting  foreign  nations.  Let  the  general 
government  be  reduced  to  foreign  concerns  only,  and  let  our 
affairs  be  disentangled  from  those  of  all  other  nations,  except 
as  to  commerce,  which  the  merchants  will  manage,  the  better 
the  more  they  are  left  free  to  manage  for  themselves,  and  the 
general  government  may  be  reduced  to  a  very  simple  organ 
ization  and  a  very  inexpensive  one.  (To  Gideon  Granger,* 
1800.  F.  VII.,  451.) 

STATUES. — A  statue  is  not  made,  like  a  mountain,  to  be  see?r 
at  a  great  distance.  To  perceive  those  minuter  circumstances 
which  constitute  its  beauty  you  must  be  near  it,  and,  in  that 
case,  it  should  be  so  little  above  the  size  of  the  life  as  to  appear 
actually  of  that  size  from  your  point  of  view.  (Written  from 
Paris  to  the  Virginia  delegates  in  Congress,  1784.  F.  IV.,  74.)>v:j 

SUBPOENAS. — I  did  not  see  till  last  night  the  opinion  of  the 
judge  on  the  subpoena  duces  tecum  against  the  President. 
Considering  the  question  there  as  coram  non  judice,  I  did  not 
read  his  argument  with  much  attention.  Yet  I  saw  readily 
enough,  that,  a.s  is  usual  where' an  opinion  is  to  be  supported,, 
right  or  wrong,  he  dwells  much  on  smaller  objections,  and 
passes  over  those  which  are  solid.  Laying  down  the  position 
generally,  that  all  persons  owe  obedience  to  subpoenas,  he 


400  THE   LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

admits  no  exception  unless  it  can  be  produced  in  his  law 
But  if  the  Constitution  enjoins  on  a  particular  officer  to  be 
always  engaged  in  a  particular  set  of  duties  imposed  on  him, 
does  not  this  supersede  the  general  law,  subjecting  him  to 
minor  duties  inconsistent  with  these?  The  Constitution  enjoins 
his  constant  agency  in  the  concerns  of  six  million  people.  Is 
the  law  paramount  to  this,  which  calls  on  him  in  behalf  of  a 
single  one?  Let  us  apply  the  Judge's  own  doctrine  to  the  case_ 
of  himself  and  his  brethren.  The  sheriff  of  Henrico  summons 
him  from  the  bench,  to  quell  a  riot  somewhere  in  his  county. 
The  Federal  Judge  is,  by  the  general  law,  a  part  of  the  posse 
of  the  State  sheriff.  Would  the  Judge  abandon  major  duties 
to  perform  lesser  ones?  Again:  the  court  of  Orleans  or  Maine 
commands,  by  subpoenas,  the  attendance  of  all  the  Judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  Would  they  abandon  their  posts  as  Judges, 
and  the  interests  of  millions  committed  to  them,  to  serve  the 
purposes  of  a  single  individual?  The  leading  principle  of  our* 
Constitution  is  the  independence  of  the  legislature,  executive 
and  judiciary  of  each  other,  and  none  are  more  jealous  of  this 
than  the  judiciary.  But  would  the  executive  be  independent 
of  the  judiciary,  if  he  were  subject  to  the  commands  of  the 
latter,  and  to  imprisonment  for  disobedience;  if  the  several 
courts  could  bandy  him  from  pillar  to  post,  keep  him  con 
stantly  trudging  from  north  to  south  and  east  to  west,  and: 
withdraw  him  entirely  from  his  constitutional  duties?  The  in 
tention  of  the  Constitution,  that  each  branch  should  be  inde-  j 
pendent  of  the  others  is  further  manifested  by  the  means  it  has/ 
furnished  to  each,  to  protect  itself  from  enterprises  of  force) 
attempted  on  them  by  the  others,  and  to  none  has  it  given  more 
effectual  or  diversified  means  than  to  the  executive.  (To 
Hay,  1807.  C.  V.,  103.) 

SUFFRAGE. — All  male  persons  of  full  age  and  sane  mind  having 
a  freehold  estate  in  one-fourth  of  an  acre  of  land  in  any  town, 
or  in  territory  five  acres  of  land  in  the  country  and  all  persons 
resident  in  the  colony  who  shall  have  paid  scot  and  lot  (taxes) 
to  the  government  shall  have  right  to  give  their  vote  in  the 
election  of  their  respective  representatives.  And  every  person 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  401 

so  qualified  to  elect  shall  be  capable  of  being  elected,  provided 
he  shall  have  given  no  bribe  either  directly  or  indirectly  to  any 
elector.  (From  a  proposed  Constitution  for  Virginia,  1776.  F. 

II,  140 

SUFFRAGE. — The  majority  of  men  in  the  State  (Virginia)  who 
pay  and  fight  for  its  support,  are  unrepresented  in  the  Legis 
lature,  the  roll  of  freeholders  entitled  to  vote  not  including 
generally  the  half  of  those  on  the  roll  of  the  militia.  (From 
"Notes  on  Virginia/'  1782.  F.  III.,  222.) 

SUFFRAGE. — When  the  Constitution  of  Virginia  was  formed 
was  in  attendance  at  Congress.  Had  I  been  here  I  should 
probably  have  proposed  a  general  suffrage;  because  my  opin 
ion  has  always  been  in  favor  of  it.  Still  I  find  very  honest  men, 
who  thinking  the  possession  of  some  property  necessary  to  give 
due  independence  of  mind  are  for  restraining  the  elective  fran 
chise  to  property.  I  believe  we  may  lessen  the  danger  of  buy 
ing  and  selling  votes  by  making  the  number  of  voters  too  great 
for  any  means  of  purchase.  I  may  further  say  that  I  have  not 
observed  men's  honestv  to  increase  with  their  riches.  (To 

*  \ 

Jeremiah  Moor,  1800.     F.  VII. ,  454.) 

SUFFRAGE. — However  nature  may  by  mental  or  physical  dis 
qualifications  have  marked  infants  and  the  weaker  sex  for  the 
protection  rather  than  the  direction  of  government,  yet 
among  the  men  who  either  pay  or  fight  for  their  country,  no 
line  of  right  can  be  drawn.  The  exclusion  of  a  majority  of  our 
freemen  from  the  right  of  representation  is  merely  arbitrary, 
and  an  usurpation  of  the  minority  over  the  majority;  for  it  is 
believed  that  the  non-freeholders  compose  the  majority  of  our 
free  and  adult  male  citizens.  (To  J.  H.  Pleasants,  1824.  C.  VII., 

3450 

SUPREME  COURT. — At  length,  then,  we  have  a  chance  of  get 
ting  a  Republican  (Democratic)  majority  in  the  Supreme  Judi 
ciary.  For  ten  years  has  that  branch  braved  the  spirit  and 
will  of  the  nation  after  the  nation  had  manifested  its  will  by 
a  complete  reform  in  every  branch  depending  on  them.  The 
event  is  a  fortunate  one  and  so  timed  as  to  be  a  God-send  to 
me.  I  am  sure  its  importance  to  the  nation  will  be  felt,  and 


402  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

the  occasion  employed  to  complete  the  great  operation  they 
have  so  long  been  executing  by  the  appointment  of  a  decided 
Republican  with  nothing  equivocal  about  him.  (To  Albert 
Gallatin,  1810.  C.  V.,  549.) 

—-SUPREME  COURT. — It  has  long  been  my  opinion,  and  I  have 
never  shrunk  from  its  expression  (although  I  do  not  choose 
to  put  it  into  a  newspaper,  nor  like  a  Priam  in  armor,  offer  my 
self  its  champion)  that  the  germ  of  dissolution  of  our  Federal 
Government  is  in  the  Constitution  of  the  Federal  Judiciary, 
an  irrepressible  body  (for  impeachment  is  scarcely  a  scare  crow) 
working  like  gravity  by  night  and  day,  gaining  a  little  to-day 
and  a  little  to-morrow,  and  advancing  its  noiseless  steps  like 
a  thief  over  the  field  of  jurisdiction  until  all  shall  be  usurped 
from  the  States  and  the  government  of  all  be  consolidated  into 
one.  To  this  I  am  opposed,  because  when  all  government? 
domestic  and  foreign,  in  little  as  in  great  things,  shall  be 
drawn  to  Washington  as  the  centre  of  all  power,  it  will  render 
powerless  the  checks  provided  of  one  government  on  another 
and  will  become  as  venal  and  oppressive  as  the  government 
from  which  it  separated.  It  will  be  as  in  Europe,  where  every 
man  must  be  pike  or  gudgeon,  hammer  or  anvil.  Our  function-' 
aries  and  theirs  are  wares  from  the  same  workshop;  made  of 
the  same  material  and  by  the  same  hand.  If  the  States  look 
with  apathy  on  this  silent  descent  of  their  government  into 
the  gulf  which  is  to  swallow  all,  we  have  only  to  weep  over 
the  human  character  found  uncontrollable  but  by  a  rod  of  iron 
and  the  blasphemers  of  man  as  incapable  of  self-government 
become  his  true  historians.  (To  Mr.  C.  H.  Hammond,  1821. 
C.  VII.,  216.) 

"^  SUPREME  COURT. — There  is  no  danger  I  apprehend  so  mucrT 
as  the  consolidation  of  our  government  by  the  noiseless  and 
therefore  unalarming  instrumentality  of  the  Supreme  court. 
This  is  the  form  in  which  Federalism  now  arrays  itself  and 
consolidation  is  the  present  principle  of  distinction  between 
Republicans  and  pseudo-Republicans,  but  real  Federalists.  JV 
must  comfort  myself  with  the  hope  that  the  judges  will  see 
the  importance  and  the  duty  of  giving  their  country  the  only  evi-  \ 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  403 

dence  they  can  give  of  fidelity  to  its  Constitution  and  integrity 
in  the  administration  of  its  laws,  that  is  to  say,  by  every  one's 
giving  his  opinion  seriatim  and  publicly  on  the  case  he  decides, 
Let  him  prove  by  his  reasoning  that  he  has  read  the  papers, 
that  he  has  considered  the  case,  that  in  the  application  of  the 
laws  to  it  he  uses  his  own  judgment  independently  and  unbiased 
by  party  views  and  personal  favor  or  disfavor.  Throw  himself 
in  every  case  on  God  and  his  country;  both  will  excuse  his 
error  and  value  him  for  his  loyalty.  The  very  idea  of  cooking 
up  opinions  in  conclave  begets  suspicions  that  something  passes 
which  fears  the  public  ear  and  spreading  by  degrees  must  pro 
duce  at  some  time  abridgment  of  tenure,  facility  of  removal, 
or  some  modification  which  may  promise  a  remedy.  For  in 
truth  there  is  at  this  time  more  hostility  to  the  Federal  Judiciary 
than  to  any  other  organ  of  the  government.  (To  Judge  John 
son,  1823.  C.  VII.,  278.) 

SUPREME  COURT. — See  Judiciary,  Federal. 

TALENT. — Men  possessing  minds  of  the  first  order,  who  have 
had  opportunities  of  being  known  and  acquiring  the  general  con 
fidence,  do  not  abound  in  any  country  beyond  the  wants  of  the 
country.  (To  Robert  Livingston,  1801.  F.  VII.,  492.) 

TAXATION. — It  is  neither  our  wish  nor  our  interest  to  separate 
from  her  (Great  Britain).  We  are  willing,  on  our  part,  to 
sacrifice  everything  which  reason  can  ask  to  the  restoration  of 
that  tranquillity  for  which  all  must  wish.  On  their  part,  let  them 
be  ready  to  establish  union  on  a  generous  plan.  Let  them 
name  their  terms,  but  let  them  be  just.  Accept  of  every  com 
mercial  preference  it  is  in  our  power  to  give  for  such  things  as 
we  can  raise  for  their  use,  or  they  make  for  ours.  But  let  them 
not  think  to  exclude  us  from  going  to  other  markets  to  dispose 
of  those  commodities  which  they  cannot  use,  or  to  supply 
those  wants  which  they  cannot  supply.  Still  less  let  it  be  pro 
posed  that  our  properties  within  our  own  territories  shall  be 
taxed  or  regulated  by  any  power  on  earth  but  our  own.  (From 
"A  Summary  View,"  1774.  F.  I.,  447.) 

TAXATION. — But  would  it  not  be  better  to  simplify  the  sys 
tem  of  taxation  rather  than  to  spread  it  over  such  a  variety 


404 


THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 


of  subjects,  and  pass  the  money  through  so  many  hands? 
Taxes  should  be  proportioned  to  what  may  be  annually  spared 
by  the  individual.  *  *  *  The  simplest  system  of  taxation 
yet  adopted  is  that  of  levying  on  the  land  and  the  laborer. 
But  it  would  be  better  to  levy  the  same  sums  on  the  produce 
of  that  labor  when  collected  in  the  barn  of  the  farmer;  because 
then  if  through  the  badness  of  the  year  he  made  little,  he  would 
pay  little.  It  would  be  better  yet  to  levy  it  not  in  his  hands, 
but  in  those  of  the  merchant  purchaser;  because  though  the 
farmer  would  in  fact  pay  it,  as  the  merchant  purchaser  would 
deduct  it  from  the  original  price  of  his  produce,  yet  the  farmer 
would  not  be  sensible  that  he  paid  it.  (Written  from  Paris  to 
James  Madison,  1784.  F.  IV.,  16.) 

TAXATION. — A  proposition  has  been  made  to  Congress  to 
begin  sinking  the  public  debt  by  a  tax  on  pleasure  horses;  that 
is  to  say,  on  all  horses  not  employed  for  the  dray,  draught  or 
farm.  It  is  said  there  is  not  a  horse  of  that  description  eastward 
of  New  York.  And  as  to  call  this  a  direct  tax  would  oblige 
them  to  proportion  it  among  the  States  according  to  the  cen 
sus,  they  choose  to  class  it  among  the  indirect  taxes.  (To 
George  Gilmer,  1792.  F.  VI.,  146.)  *  *  *  It  is  uncertain 
what  will  be  its  fate.  Besides  its  partiality,  it  is  infinitely  ob 
jectionable  as  foisting  in  a  direct  tax  under  the  name  of  an  indi- 
one.  (To  T.  M.  Randolph,  1792.  F.  VI. ,  149.) 

TAXATION. — I  am  conscious  that  an  equal  division  of  property 
is  impracticable.  But  the  consequences  of  enormous  inequality 
producing  so  much  misery  to  the  bulk  of  mankind,  legislators 
cannot  invent  too  many  devices  for  subdividing  property,  only 
taking  care  to  let  their  subdivisions  go  hand  in  hand  with  the 
natural  affections  of  the  human  mind.  The  descent  of  property 
of  every  kind  therefore  to  all  the  children,  or  to  all  the  brothers 
and  sisters,  or  other  relations  in  equal  degree  is  a  politic  meas 
ure,  and  a  practicable  one.  Another  means  of  silently  lessening 
the  inequality  of  property  is  to  exempt  all  from  taxation  below 
a  certain  point  and  to  tax  the  higher  portions  of  property  in 
geometrical  progression  as  they  rise.  (To  Rev.  James  Madi 
son,  1795.  F.  VII.,  35.) 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  405 

7  TAXATION. — We  are  all  the  more  reconciled  to  the  tax  on  im 
portations,  because  it  falls  exclusively  on  the  rich,  and  with 
the  equal  partition  of  intestates'  estates,  constitute  the  best 
agrarian  law.  In  fact,  the  poor  man  in  this  country  who  uses 
nothing  but  what  is  made  within  his  own  farm  or  family,  or 
within  the  United  States,  pays  not  a  farthing  of  tax  to  the  gen 
eral  government,  but  on  his  salt;  and  should  we  go  into  that 
manufacture  as  we  ought  to  do,  we  will  not  pay  one  cent.  Our 
revenues  once  liberated  by  the  discharge  of  the  public  debt, 
and  its  surplus  applied  to  canals,  roads,  schools,  etc.,  and  the 
farmer  will  see  his  government  supported,  his  children  edu 
cated,  and  the  face  of  his  country  made  a  paradise  by  the  con 
tributions  of  the  rich  alone,  without  his  being  called  on  to 
spare  a  cent  from  his  earnings.  The  path  we  are  now  pursuing 
leads  directly  to  this  end,  which  we  cannot  fail  to  attain  unless 
our  administration  should  fall  into  unwise  hands.  (To  Dupont 
de  Nemours,  1811.  C.  V.,  584.) 

TAXATION. — When  once  a  government  has  assumed  its  basis, 
to  select  and  tax  special  articles  from  either  of  the  other  classes, 
is  double  taxation.  For  example,  if  the  system  be  established 
on  the  basis  of  income,  and  its  just  proportion  on  that  scale  has 
been  already  drawn  from  every  one,  to  step  into  the  field  of 
consumption,  and  tax  special  articles  in  that,  as  broadcloth 
or  homespun,  wine  or  whisky,  a  coach  or  a  wagon,  is  doubly 
taxing  the  same  article.  For  that  portion  of  income  tax,  with 
which  these  articles  are  purchased,  having  already  paid  its  tax 
as  income,  to  pay  another  tax  on  the  thing  it  purchased  is 
paying  twice  for  the  same  thing,  it  is  an  aggrievance  on  the 
citizens  who  use  these  articles  in  exoneration  of  those  who  do 
not,  contrary  to  the  most  sacred  of  the  duties  of  a  government, 
to  do  equal  and  impartial  justice  to  all  its  citizens.  *  *  * 
Whether  property  alone,  and  the  whole  of  what  each  citizen 
possesses,  shall  be  subject  to  contribution,  or  only  its  surplus 
after  satisfying  his  first  wants,  or  whether  the  faculties  of  the 
body  and  mind  shall  contribute  also  from  their  annual  earnings, 
is  a  question  to  be  decided.  But,  when  decided,  and  the  prin 
ciple  settled,  it  is  to  be  equally  and  fairly  applied  to  all.  To 


4o6  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

take  from  one,  because  it  is  thought  that  his  own  industry  and 
that  of  his  father's  has  acquired  too  much,  in  order  to  spare  to 
others,  who,  or  whose  fathers,  have  not  exercised  equal  industry 
and  skill,  is  to  violate  arbitrarily  the  first  principle  of  association, 
"the  guarantee  to  every  one  of  a  free  exercise  of  his  industry, 
and  the  fruits  acquired  by  it."  If  the  overgrown  wealth  of  an 
individual  be  deemed  dangerous  to  the  State,  the  best  corrective 
is  the  law  of  equal  inheritance  to  all  in  equal  degree;  and  the 
better,  as  this  enforces  a  law  of  nature,  while  extra-taxation 
violates  it.  (To  Joseph  Milligan,  1816.  C.  VI.,  574.) 

TAXATION. — I  rejoice,  as  a  moralist,  at  the  prospect  of  a  reduc 
tion  of  the  duties  on  wine,  by  our  National  Legislature.  It  is  an 
error  to  view  a  tax  on  that  liquor  as  merely  a  tax  on  the  rich. 
It  is  a  prohibition  of  its  use  to  the  middling  class  of  our  citizens, 
and  a  condemnation  of  them  to  the  poison  of  whisky,  which  is 
desolating  their  houses.  No  nation  is  drunken  where  wine  is 
cheap,  and  none  sober  where  the  dearness  of  wine  substitutes 
ardent  spirits  as  the  common  beverage.  It  is,  in  truth,  the  only 
antidote  to  the  bane  of  whisky.  Fix  but  the  duty  at  the  rate  of 
other  merchandise,  and  we  can  drink  wine  here  as  cheap  as 
we  do  grog;  and  who  will  not  prefer  it?  Its  extended  use  will 
carry  health  and  comfort  to  a  much  enlarged  circle.  Every  one 
in  easy  circumstances  (as  the  bulk  of  our  citizens  are)  will 
prefer  it  to  the  poison  to  which  they  are  now  driven  by  their 
government.  And  the  treasury  itself  will  find  that  a  penny  a 
piece  from  a  dozen,  is  more  than  a  groat  from  a  single  one. 
(To  M.  de  Neuville,  1818.  C.  VII,  no.) 

TENURE  OF  OFFICE. — This  is  a  sample  of  the  effects  we  may 
expect  from  the  late  mischievous  law  vacating  every  four  years 
nearly  all  the  executive  offices  of  the  government.  It  saps  the 
constitutional  and  salutary  functions  of  the  President,  and  in 
troduces  a  principle  of  intrigue  and  corruption  which  will  soon 
leaven  the  mass  not  only  of  Senators  but  of  citizens.  It  is  more 
baneful  than  the  attempt  which  failed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
government  to  make  all  officers  irremovable  but  with  the  con 
sent  of  the  Senate.  This  places  every  four  years  all  appoint 
ments  under  their  power  and  even  obliges  them  to  act  on  every 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  407 

one  nomination.  It  will  keep  in  constant  excitement  all  the 
hungry  cormorants  for  office,  render  them  as  well  as  these  in 
place  sycophants  to  their  Senators,  engage  these  in  eternal 
intrigue,  to  turn  out  one  and  put  in  another  in  cabals  to  swap 
with,  and  make  of  them  what  all  executive  directories  become, 
mere  sinks  of  corruption  and  faction.  (To  James  Madison, 
1820.  C.  VII.,  190.) 

TITLES. — In  America  no  other  distinction  between  man  and 
man  had  ever  been  known,  but  that  of  persons  in  office  exer 
cising  powers  by  authority  of  the  laws,  and  private  individuals. 
Among  these  last  the  poorest  laborer  stood  on  equal  ground 
with  the  wealthiest  millionaire,  and  generally  on  a  more  favored 
one  whenever  their  rights  seem  to  jar.  Of  distinction  by  birth 
or  badge  they  had  no  more  idea  than  they  had  of  the  mode  of 
existence  in  the  moon  or  planets.  They  had  heard  only  that 
there  were  such,  and  they  knew  that  they  must  be  wrong.  A 
due  horror  of  the  evils  which  flow  from  these  distinctions  could 
be  excited  in  Europe  only,  where  the  human  species  is  classed 
into  several  stages  of  degradation,  where  the  many  are  crushed 
under  the  weight  of  the  few,  and  where  the  order  established 
can  present  to  the  contemplation  of  a  thinking  being  no  other 
picture  than  that  of  God  Almighty  and  His  angels  trampling 
under  foot  the  hosts  of  the  damned.  (From  reflections  on  the 
order  of  the  Cincinnati,  1786.  F.  IV.,  175.) 

TITLES. — The  new  Government  (of  the  United  States)  has 
ushered  itself  to  the  world  as  honest,  masculine,  and  dignified. 
It  has  shown  genuine  dignity,  in  my  opinion,  in  exploding 
adulatory  titles;  they  are  the  offerings  of  abject  baseness,  and 
nourish  that  degrading  vice  in  the  people.  (Written  from  Paris 
to  James  Madison,  1789.  F.  V.,  112.) 

TOBACCO. — It  (tobacco)  is  a  culture  of  infinite  wretchedness. 
Those  employed  in  it  are  in  a  continual  state  of  exertion  be 
yond  the  power  of  nature  to  support.  Little  food  of  any  kind 
is  raised  by  them;  so  that  the  men  and  animals  on  these  farms 
are  illy  fed,  and  the  earth  is  rapidly  impoverished.  The  culti 
vation  of  wheat  is  the  reverse  in  every  circumstance.  Besides 
clothing  the  earth  with  herbage  and  preserving  its  fertility,  it 


408  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

feeds  the  laborers  plentifully,  requires  from  them  only  a  moder 
ate  toil,  except  in  the  season  of  the  harvest,  raises  great  numbers 
of  animals  for  food  and  service,  and  diffuses  plenty  and  happi 
ness  among  the  whole.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F. 


"  TOLERATION.  —  How  far  does  the  duty  of  toleration  extend? 
First,  no  church  is  bound  by  the  duty  of  toleration  to  retain 
within  her  bosom  obstinate  offenders  against  her  laws.  Second, 
we  have  no  right  to  prejudice  another  in  his  civil  enjoyments 
because  he  is  of  another  church.  If  any  man  err  from  the  right 
way,  it  is  his  own  misfortune,  no  injury  to  thee;  nor  therefore 
art  thou  to  punish  him  in  the  things  of  this  life  because  thou 
supposeth  he  will  be  miserable  in  that  which  is  to  come.  (From 
"Notes  on  Religion,"  1776.  F.  II.,  99.) 

TORIES.  —  A  Tory  has  been  properly  defined  to  be  a  traitor  in 
thought,  but  not  in  deed.  The  only  description  by  which  laws 
have  endeavored  to  come  at  them,  was  that  of  non-jurors,  or 
persons  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  State. 
*  *  *  It  may  be  mentioned  as  a  proof  both  of  the  lenity  of 
our  government,  that  though  the  war  has  now  raged  near 
seven  years  not  a  single  execution  for  treason  has  taken  place. 
(From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  260.) 

TOWNSHIPS.  —  No,  my  friend,  the  way  to  have  good  and  safe 
government  is  not  to  trust  it  all  to  one,  but  to  divide  it  among 
the  many,  distributing  to  every  one  exactly  the  functions  he 
is  competent  to.  Let  the  National  Government  be  entrusted 
with  the  defense  of  the  Nation  and  its  foreign  and  Federal  rela 
tion;  the  State  Governments  with  the  civil  rights,  laws,  police 
and  administration  of  what  concerns  the  State  generally;  the 
Counties  with  the  local  concerns  of  the  Counties,  and  each  ward 
(township)  direct  the  interests  within  itself.  It  is  by  dividing 
and  subdividing  these  republics  from  the  great  national  one 
down  through  all  its  subordinations  until  it  ends  in  the  adminis 
tration  of  every  man's  farm  by  himself;  by  placing-  under  every 
one  what  his  own  eye  may  superintend,  that  all  will  be  done 
for  the  best.  What  has  destroyed  liberty  and  the  rights  of  man*" 
in  every  government  which  has  ever  existed  under  the  sun?, 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  409 

The  generalizing  and  concentrating  all  cares  and  powers  into 
one  body,  no  matter  whether  of  the  autocrats  of  Russia  or 
France  or  of  the  aristocrats  of  a  Venetian  Senate.  I  do  believe^ 
that  if  the  Almighty  had  not  decreed  that  man  shall  never  be: 
free  (and  it  is  a  blasphemy  to  believe  it)  that  the  secret  will 
be  found  to  be  in  the  making  himself  the  depository  of  the 
powers  respecting  himself,  so  far  as  he  is  competent  to  them, 
and  delegating  only  what  is  beyond  his  competence  by  a  syn 
thetical  process  to  higher  and  higher  orders  of  functionaries 
so  as  to  trust  fe\ver  and  fewer  powers  in  proportion  as  the 
trustees  become  more  and  more  oligarchical.  The  elementary* 
republics  of  the  wards,  the  County  republics,  the  State  repub 
lics  and  the  republics  of  the  Union  would  form  a  gradation  of 
authorities  standing  each  on  the  basis  of  law,  holding  every  one 
its  delegated  share  of  powers,  and  constituting  truly  a  system 
of  fundamental  balances  and  checks  for  the  government. 
Where  every  man  is  a  sharer  in  the  direction  of  his  ward  re 
public  or  of  some  of  the  higher  ones,  and  feels  that  he  is  a 
participator  in  the  government  of  affairs,  not  merely  at  an  elec 
tion  one  day  in  the  year,  but  every  day;  when  there  shall  not  be 
a  man  in  the  State  who  will  not  be  a  member  of  some  one  of  its 
councils,  great  or  small,  he  will  let  the  heart  be  torn  out  of  his 
body  sooner  than  his  power  be  wrested  from  him  by  a  Caesar 
or  Bonaparte.  How  powerfully  did  we  feel  the  energy  of  this 
organization  in  the  case  of  the  embargo?  I  felt  the  foundations 
of  the  government  shaken  under  my  feet  by  the  New  England 
townships.  There  was  not  an  individual  in  their  States  whose 
body  was  not  thrown  with  all  its  momentum  into  action;  and 
although  the  whole  of  the  other  States  were  known  to  be  in 
favor  of  the  measure,  yet  the  organization  of  this  little  selfish 
minority  enabled  it  to  overrule  the  Union.  What  would  the 
unwieldly  Counties  of  the  middle,  the  south,  and  the  west  do? 
Call  a  County  meeting  and  the  drunken  loungers  at  and  about  the 
court  houses  would  have  collected,  the  distances  being  too 
great  for  the  good  people  and  the  industrious  generally  to  at 
tend.  The  character  of  those  who  really  met  would  have  been 
the  measure  of  the  weight  they  would  have  had  in  the  scale  of 


4io  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

public  opinion.  As  Cato,  then,  concluded  every  speech  with 
the  words,  ''Carthago  delenda  est"  so  do  I  every  opinion  with 
the  words,  "Divide  the  Counties  into  wards."  Begin  then  only 
for  a  single  purpose;  they  will  soon  show  for  what  others  they 
are  the  best  instruments.  (To  Jos.  C.  Cabell,  1816.  C.  VI., 

543-) 

^  TOWNSHIPS. — The  article  nearest  my  heart  is  the  division 
Counties  into  wards  (townships).  These  will  be  pure  and  ele 
mentary  republics,  compose  the  State,  and  will  make  of  the 
whole  a  true  Democracy  as  to  the  business  of  the  wards,  which 
is  that  of  nearest  and  daily  concern.  The  affairs  of  the  larger 
sections,  of  Counties,  of  States,  and  of  the  Union,  not  admit 
ting  personal  transaction  by  the  people,  will  be  delegated  to 
agents  elected  by  themselves;  and  representation  will  thus  be 
substituted,  where  personal  action  becomes  impracticable.  Yet, 
even  over  these  representative  organs,  should  they  become  cor 
rupt  and  perverted,  the  division  into  wards,  a  regularly  organ 
ized  power,  enables  them  by  that  organization  to  crush,  regu 
larly  and  peaceably,  the  usurpations  of  their  unfaithful  agents, 
and  rescues  them  from  the  dreadful  necessity  of  doing  it  in- 
surrectionally.  In  this  way  we  shall  be  as  republican  as  a  large 
society  can  be;  and  secure  the  continuance  of  purity  in  our 
government,  by  the  salutary,  peaceable,  and  regular  control  of 
the  people.  (To  Samuel  Kercheval,  1816.  C.  VII.,  35.) 

TOWNSHIPS. — Divide  the  Counties  into  wards  of  such  size  a> 
that  every  citizen  can  attend,  when  called  on,  and  act  in  person. 
Ascribe  to  them  the  government  of  their  wards  in  all  things 
relating  to  themselves  exclusively.  A  justice,  chosen  by  them-x 
selves,  in  each,  a  constable,  a  military  company,  a  patrol,  a 
school,  the  care  of  their  own  poor,  their  own  portion  of  the 
public  roads,  the  choice  of  one  or  more  jurors  to  serve  in  some 
court,  and  the  delivery,  within  their  wards,  of  their  own  votes 
for  all  elective  officers  of  higher  sphere,  will  relieve  the  County 
administration  of  nearly  all  its  business,  will  have  it  better  done, 
and  by  making  every  citizen  an  acting  member  of  the  govern 
ment,  and  in  the  offices  nearest  and  most  interesting  to  him, 
will  attach  him  by  his  strongest  feelings  to  the  independence 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  411 

of  his  country,  and  its  republican  constitution.  The  justices 
thus  chosen  by  every  ward,  would  constitute  the  County  court, 
would  do  its  judiciary  business,  direct  roads,  and  bridges,  levy 
County  and  poor  rates,  and  administer  all  the  matters  of  com 
mon  interest  to  the  whole  country.  These  wards,  called  town 
ships  in  New  England,  are  the  vital  principle  of  their  govern 
ments,  and  have  proved  themselves  the  wisest  invention  ever 
devised  by  the  wit  of  man  for  the  perfect  exercise  of  self-gov 
ernment  and  for  its  preservation.  We  should  thus  marshal  our 
government  into,  i,  the  general  Federal  republic,  for  all  con 
cerns  foreign  and  Federal;  2,  that  of  the  State,  for  what  relates 
to  our  own  citizens  exclusively;  3,  the  County  republics,  for 
the  duties  and  concerns  of  the  County;  and,  4,  the  ward  repub 
lics,  for  the  small,  and  yet  numerous  and  interesting  concerns 
of  the  neighborhood;  and  in  government,  as  well  as  in  every 
other  business  of  life,  it  is  by  division  of  duties  alone  that  all 
matters,  great  and  small,  can  be  managed  to  perfection.  And 
the  whole  is  cemented  by  giving  to  every  citizen,  personally,  a 
part  in  the  administration  of  the  public  affairs.  (To  Samuel 
Kercheval,  1816.  C.  VIL,  12.) 

TOWNSHIPS. — Among  other  improvements,  I  hope  they  will 
adopt  the  subdivision  of  our  Counties  into  wards.  The  former 
may  be  estimated  at  an  average  of  twenty-four  miles  square; 
the  latter  should  be  about  six  miles  square  each,  and  would 
answer  to  the  hundreds  of  your  Saxon  Alfred.  In  each  of  these 
might  be,  ist,  An  elementary  school;  2d,  A  company  of  militia, 
with  its  officers;  3d,  A  justice  of  the  peace  and  constable;  4th, 
Each  ward  should  take  care  of  their  own  poor;  5th,  Their  own 
roads;  6th,  Their  own  police;  7th,  Elect  within  themselves  one 
or  more  jurors  to  attend  the  courts  of  justice;  and,  8th,  Give 
in  at  their  Folk-house  their  votes  for  all  functionaries  reserved 
to  their  election.  Each  ward  should  thus  be  a  small  republic 
within  itself,  and  every  man  in  the  State  would  thus  become 
an  acting  member  of  the  common  government,  transacting  in 
person  a  great  portion  of  its  rights  and  duties,  subordinate 
indeed,  yet  important,  and  entirely  within  his  competence.  The 
wit  of  man  camiot  devise  a  more  solid  basis  for  a  free,  durable 


4I2  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

ind  well-administered  republic.     (To  John  Cartwright,    1824. 

C.  VIL,  357  J 

TRAVEL. — Traveling  makes  men  wiser,  but  less  happy.  When 
men  of  sober  age  travel,  they  gather  knowledge  which  they 
may  apply  usefully  for  their  country,  but  they  are  subject  ever 
after  to  recollections  mixed  with  regret,  their  affections  are 
weakened  by  being  extended  over  more  objects,  and  they  learn 
new  habits  which  cannot  be  gratified  when  they  return  home. 
(To  Peter  Carr,  written  in  Paris,  1787.  F.  IV.,  433.) 

TREASON. — Most  codes  do  not  distinguish  between  acts 
against  the  government  and  acts  against  the  oppression  of  the 
government.  The  latter  are  virtues;  yet  have  furnished  more 
victims  to  the  executioner  than  the  former.  The  unsuccessful 
struggles  against  tyranny  have  been  the  chief  martyrs  against 
treason  laws  in  all  countries.  We  should  not  wish  them  to 
give  up  to  the  executioner  the  patriot  who  fails  and  flees  to  us. 
(From  a  report  on  Convention  with  Spain,  1792.  F.  V.,  483.) 

TREATIES. — We  conceive  the  constitutional  doctrine  to  be  that 
though  the  President  and  the  Senate  have  the  general  power 
of  making  treaties,  yet  whenever  they  include  in  a  treaty  mat 
ters  confided  by  the  Constitution  to  the  three  branches  of  Leg 
islature,  an  act  of  Legislature  will  be  requisite  to  confirm  these 
articles,  and  that  of  the  House  of  Representatives  as  one  branch 
of  the  Legislature  are  perfectly  free  to  pass  the  act  or  refuse  it, 
governing  themselves  by  their  own  judgment  whether  it  is  for 
the  good  of  their  constituents  to  let  the  treaty  go  into  effect  or 
not.  (To  James  Monroe,  1795.  F.  VIL,  67.) 

TREATIES. — With  respect  to  a  commercial  treaty  with  this 
country,  be  assured  that  the  government  not  only  has  it  not  in 
contemplation  at  present  to  make  any,  but  that  they  do  not 
conceive  that  any  circumstances  will  arise  which  shall  render 
it  expedient  for  them  to  have  any  political  connection  with 
us.  They  think  we  shall  be  glad  of  their  commerce  on  their 
own  terms.  There  is  no  party  in  our  favor  here,  either  in 
power  or  out  of  power.  Even  the  opposition  concurs  with  the 
ministry  and  the  nation  in  this.  (To  R.  H.  Lee,  written  in 
London,  1786.  F.  IV.,  206.) 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  413 

TREATIES. — Randolph  seems  to  have  hit  upon  the  true  theory 
of  our  Constitution,  that  when  a  treaty  is  made,  involving  mat 
ters  confided  by  the  Constitution  to  the  three  branches  of  the 
Legislature  conjointly,  the  Representatives  are  as  free  as  the 
President  and  Senate  were  to  consider  whether  the  national 
interest  requires  or  forbids  their  giving  the  forms  and  force  of 
law  to  the  articles  over  which  they  have  a  power.  (To  William 
Giles,  1795.  F.  VIL,  41.) 

TREATIES. — We  cannot  too  distinctly  detach  ourselves  from 
the  European  system,  which  is  essentially  belligerent,  nor  too 
sedulously  cultivate  an  American  system,  essentially  pacific. 
But  if  we  go  into  commercial  treaties  at  all,  they  should  be 
with  all,  at  the  same  time,  with  whom  we  have  important  com 
mercial  relations.  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Holland,  Den 
mark,  Sweden,  Russia,  all  should  proceed  pari  passu.  Our  min 
isters  marching  in  phalanx  on  the  same  line,  and  intercommun 
icating  freely,  each  will  be  supported  by  the  weight  of  the  whole 
mass,  and  the  facility  with  which  the  other  nations  will  agree 
to  equal  terms  of  intercourse,  will  discountenance  the  selfish 
higglings  of  England,  or  justify  our  rejection  of  them.  Per 
haps,  with  all  of  them,  it  would  be  best  to  have  but  the  single 
article  gentis  amicissimae,  leaving  everything  else  to  the  usages 
and  courtesies  of  civilized  nations.  (To  James  Madison,  1814. 
C.  VI.,  4530 

TRUTH. — Truth  will  do  well  enough  if  left  to  shift  for  herself. 
She  seldom  has  received  much  aid  from  the  power  of  great  men 
to  whom  she  is  rarely  known  and  seldom  welcome.  She  has 
no  need  of  force  to  procure  entrance  into  the  minds  of  men. 
Error  indeed  has  often  prevailed  by  the  assistance  of  power  or 
force.  Truth  is  the  proper  and  sufficient  antagonist  to  error. 
(From  "Notes  on  Religion,"  1776.  F.  II.,  102 

TRUTH. — Truth  is  great  and  will  prevail  if  left  to  herself ;  she  is 
the  proper  and  sufficient  antagonist  to  error,  and  has  nothing 
to  fear  from  the  conflict  unless  by  human  interposition  dis 
armed  of  her  natural  weapons — free  argument  and  debate;  error 
ceasing  to  be  dangerous  when  it  is  permitted  freely  to  contra- 


414  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

diet  them.     (From  a  bill  for  establishing  religious  freedom, 
1779.    F.  11,239.) 

TRUTH. — Teach  her  (Martha's  sister)  to  be  always  true;  no 
vice  is  so  mean  as  the  want  of  truth,  as  at  the  same  time  so 
useless.  Teach  her  above  all  things  to  be  good,  because  with 
out  that  we  can  neither  be  valued  by  others  nor  set  any  value 
upon  ourselves.  If  ever  you  find  yourself  in  difficulty,  and 
doubt  how  to  extricate  yourself,  do  what  is  right,  and  you  will 
find  it  is  the  easiest  way  of  getting  out  of  a  difficulty.  (To 
Martha  Jefferson,  1787.  F.  IV.,  375.) 

•>-    TYRANNY. — Human  nature  is  the  same  on  every  side  of  the* 
Atlantic,  and  will  be  alike  influenced  by  the  same  causes.    The^ 
time  to  guard  against  corruption  and  tyranny  is  before  they 
have  gotten  hold  of  us.     It  is  better  to  keep  the  wolf  out  of 
the  fold  than  to  trust  to  drawing  his  teeth  and  talons  after  he 
shall  have  entered.     (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"   1782.     F. 
HI.,  225.)  <• 

•*•    TYRANNY  OF  MAN. — I  am  convinced  that  those  societies  (as\J 
the  Indians)    which  have  been  without  government   enjoy  in 
their  general  mass  an  infinitely  greater  degree  of  happiness  than 
those  who  live  under  the  European   Governments.     Among* 
the  former,  public  opinion  is  in  the  place  of  law,  and  restrains 
morals  as  powerfully  as  laws  ever  did  anywhere.     Among  the* 
latter,  under  the  pretence  of    governing,  they  have    divided 
their  nations  into  two  classes,  wolves  and  sheep.     I  do  not  ex 
aggerate.    This  is  a  true  picture  of  Europe.    Cherislf  therefore 
the  spirit  of  our  people  and  keep  alive  their  attention.    Do  not 
be  too  severe  upon  their  errors,  but  reclaim  them  by  enlighten 
ing  them.    If  once  they  become  inattentive  to  the  public  affairs, 
you  and  I  and  Congress  and  Assemblies,  judges  and  governors^ 
shall  all  become  wolves.     It  seems  to  me  the  law  of  our  gen 
eral  nature,  in  spite  of  individual  exceptions,  and  experience 
declares  that  man  is  the  only  animal  which  devours  his  own 
kind,  for  I  can  apply  no  milder  term  to  the  governments  of 
Europe,  and  to  the  general  prey  of  the  rich  or  the  poor.     (To 
Edward  Carrington,  written  in  Paris,  1787.    F.  IV.,  360.) 
UNIFORMITY. — Truth  can  stand  by  itself.     Subject  opinion  to 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  415 

coercion:  whom  will  you  make  your  inquisitors?  Fallible 
men;  men  governed  by  bad  passions,  by  private  as  well  as  pub 
lic  reasons.  And  why  subject  it  to  coercion?  To  produce 
uniformity.  But  is  uniformity  of  opinion  desirable?  No  more 
than  of  face  and  stature.  *  *  *  Difference  in  opinion  is 
advantageous  in  religion.  The  several  sects  perform  the  office 
of  a  censor  over  each  other.  Is  uniformity  attainable?  Mil 
lions  of  innocent  men,  women  and  children,  since  the  intro 
duction  of  Christianity  have  been  burnt,  tortured,  fined, 
imprisoned;  yet  we  have  not  advanced  one  inch  towards  uni 
formity.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782.  F.  III.,  265.) 

UNION.— We  are  now  represented  in  General  Congress  by 
members  approved  by  this  House  where  the  former  union,  it 
is  hoped,  will  be  so  strongly  cemented  that  no  partial  applica 
tions  can  produce  the  slightest  departure  from  the  common 
cause.  We  consider  ourselves  as  bound  in  honor,  as  well  as 
interest,  to  share  one  general  fate  with  our  sister  colonies;  and 
should  hold  ourselves  base  deserters  of  that  union  to  which 
we  have  acceded,  were  we  to  agree  on  any  measure  distinct  and 
apart  from  them.  (From  an  address  to  Governor  Dunmore, 
of  Virginia,  1775.  F.  L,  458.) 

UNION. — I  learn  from  our  delegates  that  the  Confederation  is 
again  on  the  carpet,  a  great  and  a  necessary  wish,  but  I  fear 
almost  desperate.  The  point  of  representation  is  what  most 
alarms  me,  as  I  fear  the  great  and  the  small  colonies  are  bit 
terly  determined  not  to  cede  (yield).  Will  you  be  so  good  as  to 
collect  the  former  proposition  I  made  you  in  private  and  try  if 
you  can  work  it  into  some  good  to  serve  our  Union.  (To  John 
Adams,  1777.  F.  II.,  130.)  ^ 

^-  UNION. — The  interests  of  the  States  ought  to  be  made  joint 
in  every  possible  instance  in  order  to  cultivate  the  idea  of  our 
being  one  nation,  and  to  multiply  the  instances  in  which  the 
people  shall  look  up  to  Congress  as  their  head.  (To  James 
Monroe,  written  from  Paris,  1785.  F.  IV.,  52.) 

UNION. — We  shall  never  give  up  our  Union,  the  last  anchor 
of  our  hope,  and  that  alqne  which  is  to  prevent  this  heavenly 
country  from  becoming  an  arena  of  gladiators.  Much  as  I 


416  THE    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 

abhor  war,  and  view  it  as  the  greatest  revenge  of  mankind,  and 
anxiously  as  I  wish  to  keep  out  of  the  broils  of  Europe,  I 
would  yet  go  with  my  brethren  into  these  rather  than  separate 
from  them.  (To  Elbridge  Gerry,  1797.  F.  VII.,  122.) 
^~  UNION. — I  sincerely  wish  that  the  whole  Union  may  accom 
modate  their  interests  to  each  other  and  play  into  their  hands 
mutually  as  members  of  the  same  family,  that  the  wealth  and 
strength  of  any  one  part  should  be  viewed  as  the  wealth  and 
strength  of  the  whole.  (Hugh  Williamson,  1798.  F.  VII.,  201.) 

UNION. — The  last  hope  of  human  liberty  in  this  world  rests 
on  us.  We  ought,  for  so  dear  a  state,  to  sacrifice  every  at 
tachment  and  every  enmity.  Leave  the  President  free  to  choose 
his  own  coadjutors,  to  pursue  his  own  measures,  and  support 
him  and  them,  even  if  we  think  we  are  wiser  than  they,  honester 
than  they  are,  or  possessing  more  enlarged  information  of  the 
state  of  things.  If  we  move  in  mass,  be  it  ever  so  circuitously, 
we  shall  attain  our  object;  but  if  we  break  into  squads,  every 
one  pursuing  the  path  he  thinks  most  direct,  we  become  an 
easy  conquest  to  those  who  can  now  barely  hold  us  in  check. 
I  repeat  again  that  we  ought  not  to  schismatize  on  either  man  or 
measures.  Principles  alone  can  justify  that.  If  we  find  gov 
ernment  in  all  its  branches  rushing  headlong,  like  our  predeces 
sors,  into  the  arms  of  monarchy;  if  we  find  them  violating  our 
dearest  rights,  the  trial  by  jury,  the  freedom  of  the  press,  the 
freedom  of  opinion,  civil  or  religious,  or  opening  on  our  peace 
of  mind  or  personal  safety  the  sluices  of  terrorism;  if  we  see 
them  raising  standing  armies,  when  the  absence  of  all  other 
danger  points  to  these  as  the  sole  objects  on  which  they  are 
employed,  then  indeed  let  us  withdraw  and  call  the  nation  to 
its  tents.  But  while  our  functionaries  are  wise,  and  honest, 
and  vigilant,  let  us  move  compactly  under  their  guidance,  and 
we  have  nothing  to  fear.  Things  may  here  and  there  go  a  little 
wrong.  It  is  not  in  their  power  to  prevent  it,  but  all  will 
be  right  in  the  end,  though  not  perhaps  by  the  shortest  means. 
(To  William  Duane,  1811.  C.  V.,  577.) 

UNITARIANISM. — No  historical  fact  is  better  established  than 
that  the  doctrine  of  one  God,  pure  and  uncompounded,  was  that 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  417 

of  the  early  ages  of  Christianity ;  and  was  among  the  efficacious 
doctrines  which  gave  it  triumph  over  the  polytheism  of  the 
ancients,  sickened  with  the  absurdities  of  their  own  theology. 
Nor  was  the  unity  of  the  Supreme  Being  ousted  from  the  Chris 
tian  creed  by  the  force  of  reason,  but  by  the  sword  of  Civil 
Government,  wielded  at  the  will  of  the  fanatic  Athanasius.  The 
hocus-pocus  phantasm  of  a  God  like  another  Cerberus,  with 
one  body  and  three  heads,  had  its  birth  and  growth  in  the  blood 
of  thousands  and  thousands  of  martyrs.  And  a  strong  proof 
of  the  solidity  of  the  primitive  faith  is  its  restoration  as  soon 
as  a  nation  arises  which  vindicates  to  itself  the  freedom  of  re 
ligious  opinion  and  its  external  divorce  from  the  civil  authority. 
The  pure  and  simple  unity  of  the  Creator  of  the  universe  is 
now  all  but  ascendent  in  the  eastern  States;  it  is  dawning  in 
the  west,  and  advancing  toward  the  south;  and  I  confidently 
expect  that  the  present  generation  will  see  Unitarianism  be 
come  the  general  religion  of  the  United  States.  (To  James 
Smith,  1822.  C.  VII.,  269.) 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA. — We  wish  to  establish  in  the  upper 
and  healthier  country  and  more  centrally  for  the  State  an  uni 
versity  on  a  plan  so  broad  and  liberal  and  modern  as  to  be  worth 
patronizing  with  the  public  support,  and  be  a  temptation  to 
the  youth  of  other  States  to  come  and  drink  of  the  cup  of  knowl 
edge  and  fraternize  with  us.  The  first  step  is  to  obtain  a  good 
plan;  that  is  a  judicious  selection  of  the  sciences  and  a  practic 
able  grouping  of  them  together.  *  *  *  I  will  venture  to 
sketch  the  sciences  which  seem  useful  and  practicable  for  us, 
as  they  occur  to  me  while  holding  my  pen.  Botany,  Chemistry, 
Zoology,  Anatomy,  Surgery,  Medicine,  Natural  Philosophy, 
Agriculture,  Mathematics,  Astronomy,  Geology,  Geography, 
Politics,  Commerce,  History,  Ethics,  Law,  Arts,  Fine  Arts. 
This  list  is  imperfect  because  I  make  it  hastily,  and  because 
I  am  unequal  to  the  subject.  It  is  evident  that  some  of  these 
articles  are  too  much  for  one  professor  and  must  therefore  be 
ramified ;  others  may  be  ascribed  in  groups  to  a  single  professor. 
(To  Joseph  Priestly,  1800.  F.  VIL,  407.) 

UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA. — To  these  particular  services,  I  think 


4i8  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

I  might  add  the  establishment  of  our  University,  as  principally 
my  work,  acknowledging  at  the  same  time,  as  I  do,  the  great 
assistance  received  from  my  able  colleagues  of  the  Visitation. 
But  my  residence  in  the  vicinity  threw,  of  course,  on  me  the 
chief  burthen  of  the  enterprise,  as  well  of  the  buildings  as  of  the 
general  organization  and  care  of  the  whole.  The  effect  of  this 
institution  on  the  future  fame,  fortune  and  prosperity  of  our 
country  can  as,  yet  be  seen  but  at  a  distance.  But  an  hundred 
well-educated  youths,  which  it  will  turn  out  annually,  and  ere 
long,  will  fill  its  offices  with  men  of  superior  qualifications,  and 
raise  it  from  its  humble  state  to  an  eminence  among  its  asso 
ciates  which  it  has  never  yet  known;  no,  not  in  its  brightest 
days.  That  institution  is  now  qualified  to  raise  its  youth  to  an 
order  of  science  unequalled  in  any  other  State;  and  this  super 
iority  will  be  the  greater  from  the  free  range  of  mind  encour- 
•  aged  there,  and  the  restraint  imposed  at  other  seminaries  by  the 
shackles  of  a  domineering  hierarchy,  and  a  bigoted  adhesion 
to  ancient  habits.  Those  now  on  the  theatre  of  affairs  will  enjoy 
the  ineffable  happiness  of  seeing  themselves  succeeded  by  sons 
of  a  grade  of  science  beyond  their  own  ken.  Our  sister  States 
will  also  be  repairing  to  the  same  fountains  of  instruction,  will 
bring  hither  their  genius  to  be  kindled  at  our  fire,  and  will  carry 
back  the  fraternal  affections  which,  nourished  by  the  same  alma 
mater,  will  knit  us  to>  them  by  the  indissoluble  bonds  of  early 
personal  friendships.  The  good  Old  Dominion,  the  blessed 
mother  of  us  all,  will  then  raise  her  head  with  pride  among  the 
nations,  will  present  to  them  that  splendor  of  genius  which  she 
has  ever  possessed,  but  has  too  long  suffered  to  rest  unculti 
vated  and  unknown,  and  will  become  a  centre  of  ralliance  to  the 
States  whose  youth  she  has  instructed,  and,  as  it  were,  adopted. 
(1826.  C  IX.,  509.) 

VICE-PRESIDENCY. — The  idea  that  I  would  accept  the  office  of 
President  but  not  that  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States 
had  not  its  origin  with  me.  I  never  thought  of  questioning 
the  free  exercise  of  the  right  of  my  fellow  citizens  to  marshal 
those  whom  they  call  into  their  service  according  to  their  fit 
ness,  nor  ever  presumed  that  they  were  not  the  best  judges  of 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  419 

these.  Had  I  indulged  in  a  wish  in  what  manner  they  should 
dispose  of  me,  it  would  precisely  have  coincided  with  what  they 
have  done.  (To  James  Sullivan,  1797.  F.  VIL,  116.) 

VICE-PRESIDENCY. — I  thank  you  for  your  congratulation  on 
the  public  call  on  me  to  undertake  the  second  office  in  the 
United  States,  but  still  more  for  the  justice  you  do  me  in  view 
ing  as  I  do  the  escape  from  the  first;  I  have  no  wish  to  meddle 
again  in  public  affairs,  being  happier  at  home  than  I  can  be 
anywhere  else.  Still  less  do  I  wish  to  engage  in  an  office  where 
it  would  be  impossible  to  satisfy  either  friends  or  foes.  If  I  am 
to  act,  however,  a  more  tranquil  and  unoffending  station  could 
not  have  been  found  for  me.  no  one  so  analogous  to  the  dispo 
sitions  of  my  mind.  It  will  give  me  philosophical  evenings  in 
the  winter  and  rural  days  in  summer.  (To  Benjamin  Rush, 
1797.  F.  VIL,  114.) 

VICE-PRESIDENT. — As  to  duty,  the  Constitution  will  know  me 
(as  Vice-President)  only  as  the  member  of  a  Legislative  body; 
and  its  principle  is  that  of  a  separation  of  Legislative,  Executive 
and  Judiciary  functions,  except  in  cases  specified.  If  this  prin 
ciple  be  not  expressed  in  direct  terms,  yet  it  is  clearly  the  spirit 
of  the  Constitution,  and  it  ought  to  be  so  commented  and  acted 
on  by  every  friend  of  free  government.  (To  James  Madison, 
1797.  F.  VIL,  108.) 

.s-  WAR. — I  do  not  recollect  in  all  the  animal  kingdom  a  single 
species  but  man  which  is  eternally  and  systematically  engaged 
in  the  destruction  of  its  own  species.    What  is  called  civilization^ 
seems  to  have  no  other  effect  on  him  than  to  teach  him  to  pur-          . 
sue  the  principle  of  bellum  omnium  in  omnia  on  a  larger  scale,*"  *\  ^ 
and,  in  place  of  the  little  contests  of  tribe  against  tribe,  to  en- 
gage  all  the  quarters  of  the  earth  in  the  same  work  of  destru£- 
tion.    When  we  add  to  this  that  as  the  other  species  of  animaSs- 
the  lions  and  tigers  are  mere  lambs  compared  with  man  as  a 
destroyer,  we  must  conclude  that  it  is  in  man  alone  that  nature 
has  been  able  to  find  a  sufficient  barrier  against  the  too  great 
nullification  of  other  animals  and  of  man  himself,  an  equilibrat 
ing  power  against  the  fecundity  of  generation.  (To  James  Mad 
ison,  1797.     F.  VIL,  100.) 


420  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

WAR. — We  had  reposed  great  confidence  in  that  provision 
of  the  Constitution  which  requires  two-thirds  of  the  Legislature 
to  declare  war.  Yet  it  may  be  entirely  eluded  by  a  majority's 
taking  such  measures  as  will  bring  on  war.  (To  James  Monroe, 
1798.  F.  VII.,  222.) 

WAR. — Wars  must  sometimes  be  our  lot,  and  all  the  wise  can 
do  will  be  to  avoid  that  half  of  them  which  would  be  produced 
by  our  own  follies  and  our  own  acts  of  injustice;  and  to  make 
for  the  other  half  the  best  preparations  we  can.  Of  what  nature 
should  these  be?  A  land  army  would  be  useless  for  offense, 
and  not  the  best  nor  safest  instrument  of  defense.  For  either 
of  these  purposes,  the  sea  is  the  field  on  which  we  should  meet 
an  European  enemy.  On  that  element  it  is  necessary  we  should 
possess  some  power.  To  aim  at  such  a  navy  as  the  greater  na 
tions  of  Europe  possess  would  be  a  foolish  and  wicked  waste 
of  the  energies  of  our  countrymen.  It  would  be  to  pull  on  our 
own  heads  that  load  of  military  expense  which  makes  the  Eu 
ropean  laborer  go  supperless  to  bed,  and  moistens  his  bread 
with  the  sweat  of  his  brows.  (From  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  1782. 
F.  III.,  280.) 

WAR. — Were  armies  to  be  raised  whenever  a  speck  of  war 
is  visible  in  our  horizon,  we  never  should  have  been  without 
them.  Our  resources  would  have  been  exhausted  on  dangers 
which  have  never  happened,  instead  of  being  reserved  for  what 
is  really  to  take  place.  A  steady,  perhaps  a  quickened  pace 
in  preparations  for  the  defense  of  our  seaport  towns  and  wraters; 
an  early  settlement  of  the  most  exposed  and  vulnerable  parts 
of  our  country;  a  militia  so  organized  that  its  effective  portions 
can  be  called  to  any  point  in  the  Union,  or  volunteers  instead 
of  them  to  serve  a  sufficient  time,  are  means  which  may  always 
be  ready  yet  never  preying  on  our  resources  until  actually 
called  into  use.  They  will  maintain  the  public  interests  while  a 
more  permanent  force  shall  be  in  course  of  preparation.  But 
much  will  depend  on  the  promptitude  with  which  these  means 
can  be  brought  into  activity.  If  war  be  forced  upon  us  in  spite 
of  our  long  and  vain  appeals  to  the  justice  of  nations,  rapid 
and  vigorous  movements  in  its  outset  will  go  far  towards  se- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  421 

curing  us  in  its  course  and  issue,  and  towards  throwing  its  bur 
dens  on  those  who  render  necessary  the  resort  from  reason  to 
force.  (Sixth  Annual  Message,  1806.  F.  VIII. ,  495.) 
'"WAR. — "Is  it  common  for  a  nation  to  obtain  a  redress  of 
wrongs  by  war?"  The  answer  to  this  question  you  will,  of 
course,  draw  from  history.  In  the  meantime,  reason  will  ans 
wer  it  on  the  grounds  of  probability,  that  when  the  wrong  has 
been  done  by  a  weaker  nation  the  stronger  one  has  generally 
been  able  to  enforce  redress ;  but  where  by  a  stronger  nation,  re 
dress  by  war  has  been  neither  obtained  nor  expected  by  the 
weaker.  On  the  contrary,  the  loss  has  been  increased  by  the  ex 
penses  of  the  war  in  blood  and  treasure.  Yet  it  may  have 
obtained  another  object  equally  securing  itself  from  future 
wrong.  It  may  have  retaliated  on  the  aggressor  losses  of  blood 
and  treasure  far  beyond  the  value  to  him  of  the  wrong  he  had 
committed  and  thus  have  made  the  advantage  of  that  too  dear 
a  purchaseflto  leave  him  in  a  disposition  to  renew  the  wrong  in 
future.  Inf  this  way,  the  loss  by  the  war  may  have  secured  the 
weaker  nation  from  loss  by  future  wrong.  (To  Rev.  Mr.  Wor 
cester,  1816.  C.  VI.,  539.) 

WASHINGTON. — There  was  nobody  so  well  qualified  as  yourself 
to  put  our  new  machine  into  a  regular  course  of  action,  nobody 
the  authority  of  whose  name  could  have  so  effectually  curbed 
opposition  at  home,  and  produce  respect  abroad.  I  am  sensible 
of  the  immensity  of  the  sacrifice  on  your  part.  Your  measure 
of  fame  was  full  to  the  brim;  and  therefore,  you  have  nothing 
to  gain.  But  there  are  cases  wherein  it  is  a  duty  to  risk  all 
against  nothing,  and  I  believe  this  was  exactly  the  case.  (To 
Washington,  from  Paris,  1789.  F.  V.,  95.) 

WASHINGTON. — It  is  fortunate  that  our  first  Executive  Magis 
trate  is  purely  and  zealously  Republican.  We  cannot  expect 
all  his  successors  to  be  so,  and  therefore  should  avail  ourselves 
the  present  day  to  establish  principles  and  examples  which  may 
fence  us  against  future  heresies  preached  now,  to  be  practiced 
hereafter.  (To  Harry  Innes,  1791.  F.  V.,  300.) 

WASHINGTON. — There  is  sometimes  an  eminence  of  character 
on  which  society  have  such  peculiar  claims  as  to  control  the 


422  -THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

predilection  of  the  individual  for  a  particular  walk  of  happiness 
and  restrain  him  to  that  alone  arising-  from  the  present  and  fu 
ture  benedictions  of  mankind.  This  seems  to  be  your  condition, 
and  the  law  imposed  on  you  by  Providence  in  forming  your 
character,  and  fashioning  the  events  on  which  it  was  to  operate; 
and  it  is  motions  like  these  that  I  appeal  from  your  former  de 
termination  (of  refusing  a  second  term)  and  urge  a  revisal  of  it, 
on  the  ground  of  a  change  in  the  aspect  of  things.  (To  Wash 
ington,  1792.  F.  VI.,  6.) 

WASHINGTON. — It  was  impossible  the  bank  and  paper-mania 
should  not  produce  great  and  extensive  ruin.  The  President 
is  fortunate  to  get  off  just  as  the  bubble  is  bursting,  leaving 
others  to  hold  the  bag,  yet  on  his  departure  will  mark  the  mo 
ment  when  the  difficulties  begin  to  work;  you  will  see  that  they 
will  be  ascribed  to  the  new  administration  and  that  he  will  have 
his  usual  good  fortune  of  reaping  credit  from  the  good  acts  of 
others,  and  leaving  to  them  that  of  his  errors.  (  To  James  Madi 
son,  1797.  F.  VII.,  104.) 

WASHINGTON. — Such  is  the  popularity  of  the  President  that 
the  people  will  support  him  in  whatever  he  will  do  or  not  do, 
without  appealing  to  their  own  reason  or  to  anything  but  their 
feelings  toward  him.  His  mind  has  been  so  long  used  to  unlim 
ited  applause  that  it  could  not  brook  contradiction,  or  even 
advice  offered  unasked.  To  advice  when  asked  he  is  very  open. 
I  have  long  thought  therefore  it  was  best  for  the  Republican 
interest  to  soothe  him  by  flattering  when  they  could  approve 
his  measures,  and  to  be  silent  where  they  disapprove.  *  *  * 
I  think  it  is  best  to  leave  him  to  his  own  movements,  and  not 
risk  the  ruffling  them  by  what  he  might  deem  an  improper  in 
terference  with  the  constituted  authorities.  (To  Archibald  Stu 
art,  1797.  F.  VII.,  102.) 

WASHINGTON. — I  think  I  knew  General  Washington  inti 
mately  and  thoroughly;  and  were  I  called  to  delineate  his  char 
acter,  it  should  be  in  terms  like  these: 

His  mind  was  great  and  powerful,  without  being  of  the  very 
first  order;  his  penetration  strong,  though  not  so  acute  as  that 
of  a  Newton,  Bacon,  or  Locke;  and  as  far  as  he  saw,  no  judg- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  423 

ment  was  ever  sounder.  It  was  slow  in  operation,  being  little 
aided  by  invention  or  imagination,  but  sure  in  conclusion. 
Hence  the  common  remark  of  his  officers,  of  the  advantage  he 
derived  from  councils  of  war,  where  hearing  all  suggestions, 
he  selected  whatever  was  best;  and  certainly  no  General  ever 
planned  the  battles  more  judiciously.  But  if  deranged  during 
the  course  of  action,  if  any  member  of  his  plan  was  dislocated 
by  sudden  circumstances,  he  was  slow  in  re-adjustment.  The 
consequence  was,  that  he  often  failed  in  the  field,  and  rarely 
against  an  enemy  in  station,  as  at  Boston  and  York.  He 
was  incapable  of  fear,  meeting  personal  dangers  with  the  calm 
est  unconcern.  Perhaps  the  strongest  feature  in  his  character 
was  prudence,  never  acting  until  every  circumstance,  every  con 
sideration,  \vas  maturely  weighed;  refraining  if  he  saw  a  doubt, 
but  when  once  decided,  going  through  with  his  purpose,  what 
ever  obstacle  opposed.  His  integrity  was  most  pure,  his  justice 
the  most  inflexible  I  have  ever  known,  no  motives  of  interest 
or  consanguinity,  of  friendship  or  hatred,  being  able  to  bias 
his  decision.  He  was,  indeed,  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  a  wise, 
a  good,  and  a  great  man.  His  temper  was  naturally  irritable 
and  high  toned;  but  reflection  and  resolution  had  obtained  a 
firm  and  habitual  ascendency  over  it.  If  ever,  however,  it  broke 
its  bonds,  he  was  most  tremendous  in  his  wrath.  In  his  ex 
penses  he  was  honorable,  but  exact;  but  frowning  and  unyield 
ing  on  all  visionary  projects  and  all  unworthy  calls  on  his 
charity.  His  heart  was  not  warm  in  its  affections;  but  he  ex 
actly  calculated  every  man's  value  and  gave  him  a  solid  esteem 
proportioned  to  it.  His  person,  you  know,  was  fine,  his  stature 
exactly  what  one  would  wish,  his  deportment  easy,  erect  and 
noble;  the  best  horseman  of  his  age,  and  the  most  graceful 
figure  that  could  be  seen  on  horseback.  Although  in  the  circle 
of  his  friends,  where  he  might  be  unreserved  with  safety,  he 
took  a  free  share  in  conversation,  his  colloquial  talents  \vere  not 
above  mediocrity,  possessing  neither  copiousness  of  ideas,  nor 
fluency  of  words.  In  public,  when  called  on  for  a  sudden  opin 
ion,  he  was  unready,  short,  and  embarrassed.  Yet  he  wrote 
readily,  rather  diffusely,  in  an  easy  and  correct  style.  This  he 


424  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

had  acquired  by  conversation  with  the  world,  for  his  education 
was  merely  reading,  writing  and  common  arithmetic,  to  which 
he  added  surveying  at  a  later  day.  His  time  was  employed  in 
action  chiefly,  reading  little,  and  that  only  in  agriculture  and 
English  history.  His  correspondence  became  necessarily  ex 
tensive,  and,  with  journalizing  his  agricultural  proceedings,  oc 
cupied  most  of  his  leisure  hours  within  doors.  On  the  whole, 
his  character  was,  in  its  mass,  perfect,  in  nothing  bad,  in  few 
points  indifferent;  and  it  may  truly  be  said,  that  never  did  na 
ture  and  fortune  combine  more  perfectly  to  make  a  man  great, 
and  to  place  him  in  the  same  constellation  with  whatever 
worthies  have  merited  from  man  an  everlasting  remembrance. 
For  his  was  the  singular  destiny  and  merit,  of  leading  the  armies 
of  his  country  successfully  through  an  arduous  war,  for  the 
establishment  of  its  independence;  of  conducting  its  councils 
through  the  birth  of  a  Government,  new  in  its  forms  and  prin 
ciples,  until  it  had  settled  down  into  a  quiet  and  orderly  train; 
and  of  scrupulously  obeying  the  laws  through  the  whole  of  his 
career,  civil  and  military,  of  which  the  history  of  the  world  fur 
nishes  no  other  example. 

How,  then,  can  it  be  perilous  for  you  to  take  such  a  man  on 
your  shoulders?  I  am  satisfied  the  great  body  of  Republicans 
think  of  him  as  I  do.  We  were,  indeed,  dissatisfied  with  him 
on  his  ratification  of  the  British  treaty.  But  this  was  short  lived. 
We  knew  his  honesty,  the  wiles  with  which  he  was  encom 
passed,  and  that  age  had  already  begun  to  relax  the  firmness 
of  his  purposes;  and  I  am  convinced  he  is  more  deeply  seated 
in  the  love  and  gratitude  of  the  Republicans,  than  in  the  Phar 
isaical  homage  of  the  Federal  monarchists.  For  he  was  no 
monarchist  from  preference  of  his  judgment.  The  soundness 
of  that  gave  him  correct  views  of  the  rights  of  man,  and  his 
severe  justice  devoted  him  to  them.  He  has  often  declared 
to  me  that  he  considered  our  new  Constitution  as  an  experi 
ment  on  the  practicability  of  Republican  Government,  and  \vith 
what  dose  of  liberty  man  could  be  trusted  for  his  own  good; 
that  he  was  determined  the  experiment  should  have  a  fair  trial, 
and  would  lose  the  last  drop  of  his  blood  in  support  of  it.  And 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  425 

these  declarations  he  repeated  to  me  the  oftener  and  more 
pointedly,  because  he  knew  my  suspicions  of  Colonel  Hamil 
ton's  views,  and  probably  had  heard  from  him  the  same  declar 
ations  which  I  had,  to  wit,  "that  the  British  Constitution,  with 
its  unequal  representation,  corruption  and  other  existing  abuses 
would  make  it  an  impracticable  government."  I  do  believe 
that  General  Washington  had  not  a  firm  confidence  in  the  dura 
bility  of  our  government.  He  was  naturally  distrustful  of  men, 
and  inclined  to  gloomy  apprehensions;  and  I  was  ever  per 
suaded  that  a  belief  that  we  must  at  length  end  in  something 
like  a  British  Constitution,  had  some  weight  in  his  adoption 
of  the  ceremonies  of  levees,  birthdays,  pompous  meetings  with 
Congress,  and  other  forms  of  the  same  character,  calculated  to 
prepare  us  gradually  for  a  change  which  he  believed  possible, 
and  to  let  it  come  on  with  as  little  shock  as  might  be  to  the 
public  mind. 

These  are  my  opinions  of  General  Washington,  which  I 
would  vouch  at  the  judgment  seat  of  God,  having  been  formed 
on  an  acquaintance  of  thirty  years.  I  served  with  him  in  the 
Virginia  Legislature  from  1769  to  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
again,  a  short  time  in  Congress,  until  he  left  us  to  take  com 
mand  of  the  army.  During  the  war  and  after  it  we  corresponded 
occasionally,  and  in  the  four  years  of  my  continuance  in  the 
office  of  Secretary  of  State,  our  intercourse  was  daily,  confiden 
tial  and  cordial.  After  I  retired  from  that  office,  great  and  ma 
lignant  pains  were  taken  by  our  Federal  monarchists,  and  not 
entirely  without  effect,  to  make  him  view  me  as  a  theorist,  hold 
ing  French  principles  of  government,  which  would  lead  infal 
libly  to  licentiousness  and  anarchy.  And  to  this  he  listened 
the  more  easily,  from  my  known  disapprobation  of  the  British 
treaty.  I  never  saw  him  afterwards,  or  these  malignant  insinu 
ations  should  have  been  dissipated  before  his  just  judgment, 
as  mists  before  the  sun.  I  felt  on  his  death,  with  my  country 
men,  that  "verily  a  great  man  hath  fallen  this  day  in  Israel." 

WASHINGTON. — You  expected  to  discover  the  difference  of 
our  party  principles  in  General  Washington's  valedictory  and 
my  inaugural  address.  Not  at  all.  General  Washington  did  not 


426  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

harbor  one  principle  of  Federalism.  He  was  neither  an  Anglo- 
man,  a  monarchist,  nor  a  separatist.  He  sincerely  wished  the 
people  to  have  as  much  self-government  as  they  were  com 
petent  to  exercise  themselves.  The  only  point  on  which  he 
and  I  ever  differed  in  opinion  was  that  I  had  more  confidence 
than  he  had  in  the  natural  integrity  and  discretion  of  the  people, 
and  in  the  safety  and  extent  to  which  they  might  trust  them 
selves  with  a  control  over  their  government.  He  has  expressed 
to  me  a  thousand  times  his  determination  that  the  existing  gov 
ernment  should  have  a  fair  trial  and  that  in  support  of  it,  he 
would  spend  the  last  drop  of  his  blood.  (To  Mr.  Melish,  1813. 
C.  VI.,  97.) 

WHIGS  AND  TORIES. — The  Hartford  Convention,  the  victory 
of  Orleans,  the  peace  of  Ghent,  prostrated  the  name  of  Fed 
eralism.  Its  votaries  abandoned  it  through  shame  and  mortifi 
cation;  and  now  call  themselves  Republicans.  But  the  name 
alone  is  changed,  the  principles  are  the  same.  For  in  truth 
the  parties  of  Whig  and  Tory  are  those  of  nature.  They  exist 
in  all  countries,  whether  called  by  these  names  or  by  those  of 
Aristocrats  and  Democrats,  Cote  Droite  and  Cote  Gauche,  Ul 
tras  and  Radicals,  Seroiles  and  Liberals.  The  sickly,  weakly, 
timid  man  fears  the  people,  and  is  a  Tory  by  nature.  The 
healthy,  strong  and  bold  cherishes  them  and  is  formed  a  Whig 
by  nature.  (To  Marquis  de  LaFayette,  1823.  C.  VII.,  324.) 

WHISKY. — Considering  it  only  as  a  fiscal  measure,  this  was 
right.  But  the  prostration  of  body  and  mind  which  the  cheap 
ness  of  this  liquor  is  spreading  through  the  mass  of  our  citizens, 
now  calls  the  attention  oi  the  legislator  on  a  very  different 
principle.  One  of  his  important  duties  is  as  guardian  of  those 
who  from  causes  susceptible  of  precise  definition,  cannot  take 
care  of  themselves.  Such  are  infants,  maniacs,  gamblers,  drunk 
ards.  The  last  as  much  as  the  maniac,  requires  restrictive 
measures  to  save  him  from  the  fatal  infatuation  under  which 
he  is  destroying  his  health,  his  morals,  his  family,  and  his  use 
fulness  to  society.  One  powerful  obstacle  to  his  ruinous  self- 
indulgence  would  be  a  price  beyond  his  competence.  As  a 
sanatory  measure,  therefore,  it  becomes  one  of  duty  in  the  pub- 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  427 

lie  guardians.  Yet  I  do  not  think  it  follows  that  imported 
spirits  should  be  subjected  to  similar  enhancement  until  they 
become  as  cheap  as  they  are  made  at  home.  A  tax  on  whisky 
is  to  discourage  its  consumption;  a  tax  on  foreign  spirits  en 
courages  whisky  by  removing  its  rival  from  competition.  The 
price  and  present  duty  throw  foreign  spirits  already  out  of 
competition  with  whisky,  and  accordingly  they  are  used  but 
to  a  salutary  extent.  You  see  no  persons  besotting  themselves 
with  imported  spirits,  wines  and  liquors,  cordials,  etc.  Whisky 
claims  to  itself  alone  the  exclusive  office  of  sot-making.  For 
eign  spirits,  wines,  teas,  coffee,  sugars,  salt,  are  articles  of  as 
innocent  consumption  as  broadcloths  and  silks;  and  ought  like 
them,  to  pay  but  the  average  ad  valorem  duty  of  other  im 
portant  comforts.  (To  Samuel  Smith,  1823.  C.  VII. ,  285.) 

WOMAN. — But  our  good  ladies,  I  trust  have  been  too  wise 
to  wrinkle  their  foreheads  with  politics.  They  are  contented 
to  soothe  and  calm  the  minds  of  their  husbands  returning  ruf 
fled  from  political  debate.  They  have  the  good  sense  to  value 
domestic  happiness  above  all  others,  and  the  art  to  cultivate 
it  above  all  others.  There  is  no  part  of  the  earth  where  as 
much  of  this  is  enjoyed  as  in  America.  Recollect  the  women 
of  this  capital,  some  on  foot,  some  on  horses,  and  some  in  car 
riages  hunting  pleasure  in  the  streets,  in  routs  and  assemblies, 
and  forgetting  what  they  have  left  behind  them  in  their  nur 
series;  compare  them  with  our  own  countrywomen  occupied  in 
the  tender  and  tranquil  amusements  of  domestic  life,  and  con 
fess  that  it  is  a  comparison  of  Americans  and  Angels.  (To  Mrs. 
William  Bingham,  written  in  Paris,  1788.  F.  V.,  9.) 


APOTHEGMS. 


(The  following  pithy  sentiments  are  found  scattered  through 
the  writings  of  Jefferson  in  passages  not  otherwise  significant 
and  therefore  not  included  in  the  main  body  of  the  Writings.) 

i. 

Conscience  is  the  only  clue  that  will  eternally  guide  a  man 
clear  of  ?11  doubts  and  inconsistencies. 

2. 

Under  difficulties  I  have  ever  found  one  and  only  one  rule, 
to  do  what  is  right,  and  generally  we  shall  disentangle  ourselves 
almost  without  perceiving  how  it  happened. 

3- 

To  contribute  by  neighborly  intercourse  and  attention  to 
make  others  happy  is  the  shortest  and  surest  way  of  being  happy 
ourselves. 

4- 

I  have  ever  deemed  it  more  honorable  and  profitable,  too, 
to  set  a  good  example  than  to  follow  a  bad  one. 

5- 

I  never  consider  a  difference  of  opinion  in  politics,  in  religion, 
in  philosophy,  as  cause  for  withdrawing  from  a  friend. 

6.) 

LForeign  relations  are  the  province  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment;  domestic  regulations  and  institutions  belong  in  every 
State  to  itselO 

7- 

Of  all  the  duties  imposed  on  the  executive  head  of  a  gov 
ernment,  appointment  to  office  is  the  most  difficult  and  most 
irksome. 

429 


430  THE    LIFE   AND    WRITINGS 

8. 

In  a  government  bottomed  on  the  will  of  all,  the  life  and 
liberty  of  every  individual  citizen  becomes  interesting  to  all. 

9- 

The  government  which  can  wield  the  arm  of  the  people  must 
be  the  strongest  possible. 

10. 
History  in  general  only  informs  us  what  bad  government  is. 

ii. 

Nothing  can  establish  firmly  the  Republican  principles  of  our 
government  but  an  establishment  of  them  in  England. 

12. 

The  duty  of  an  upright  administration  is  to  pursue  its  course 
steadily,  to  know  nothing  of  these  family  (party)  dissensions 
and  to  cherish  the  good  principles  of  both  parties. 

13- 

Where  an  office  is  local  we  never  go  out  of  the  limits  for  the 
officers. 

14- 

It  will  be  forever  seen  that  of  bodies  of  men  even  elected  by 
the  people,  there  will  always  be  a  greater  proportion  aristo 
cratic  than  among  their  constituents. 

15- 

A  merchant  is  naturally  a  Republican  [Democrat]  and  can  be 
otherwise  only  from  a  vitiated  state  of  things. 

16. 

The  happiness  of  society  depends  so  much  on  preventing 
party  spirit  from  infecting  the  common  intercourse  of  life  that 
nothing  should  be  spared  to  harmonize  and  amalgamate  the 
parties  in  social  circles. 

17- 
The  Presidency  is  the  only  office  in  the  world  about  which  I 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  43! 

am  unable  to  decide  in  my  own  mind  whether  I  had  rather 
have  it  or  not  have  it. 

1  8. 

I  am  no  believer  in  the  amalgamation  of  parties,  nor  do  I 
consider  it  as  either  desirable  or  useful  to  the  public. 


It  is  necessary  to  give  as  well  as  take  in  a  government  like 
ours. 

20:/ 

It  accords  with  our  principles  to  acknowledge  any  govern 
ment  to  be  rightful  which  is  formed  by  the  will  of  the  nation 
substantially  declared. 

21. 

A  nation  as  a  society  forms  a  moral  person,  and  every  mem 
ber  of  it  is  personally  responsible  for  his  society. 

22. 

The  spirit  of  this  country  is  totally  adverse  to  a  large  military. 

23- 

Wars  and  contentions  indeed  fill  the  pages  of  history  with 
more  matter.  But  more  blest  is  that  nation  whose  silent  course 
of  happiness  furnishes  nothing  for  history  to  say. 

24. 

For  a  people  who  are  free  and  who  mean  to  remain  so,  a 
well-organized  and  armed  militia  is  their  best  security. 

25- 
Peace  and  friendship  with  all  mankind  is  the  wisest  policy. 

26. 

If  there  be  one  principle  more  deeply  rooted  than  any  other 
in  the  mind  of  every  American,  it  is  that  we  should  have  nothing; 
to  do  with  conquest. 

27- 
I  wish  we  could  distribute  our  four  hundred  monocrats  among: 


432  THE    LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

the  Indians  who  would  teach  them  lessons    of    liberty    and 
equality. 

28. 

We  are  not  expected  to  be  translated  from  despotism  to  lib 
erty  in  a  feather  bed. 

29. 
The  boisterous  sea  of  liberty  is  never  without  a  wave. 

30. 

Our  citizens  may  be  deceived  for  a  while  and  have  been 
deceived;  but  as  long  as  the  press  can  be  protected  we  trust 
them  for  light. 

3i. 

The  newspapers  are  the  first  of  all  human  contrivances  for 
generating  war. 

32. 

Letters  are  not  the  first  but  the  last  steps  in  the  progression 
from  barbarism  to  civilization. 

33- 

Men  are  disposed  to  live  honestly  if  the  means  of  doing  so  are 
open  to  them. 

34- 
Honesty  is  the  first  chapter  of  the  book  of  wisdom. 

35- 

I  place  economy  among  the  first  and  most  important  of 
Republican  virtues,  and  public  debt  as  the  greatest  of  the 
dangers  to  be  feared. 

36. 

There  is  a  debt  of  service  due  from  every  man  to  his  country, 
proportioned  to  the  bounties  which  nature  and  fortune  have 
measured  on  him. 

37- 
I  am  not  one  of  those  who  fear  the  people. 


OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  433 

38. 

In  most  countries  a  fixed  quantity  of  wheat  is  perhaps  the 
best  permanent  standard  of  value. 

39- 

The  English  would  not  lose  the  sale  of  a  bale  of  furs  for 
the  freedom  of  the  whole  world. 

40. 

I  have  made  it  a  rule  never  to  engage  in  a  lottery  or  any 
other  adventure  of  mere  chance. 


The  purse  of  the  people  is  the  real  seat  of  sensibility. 

42. 

I  have  ever  found  in  my  progress  through  life,  that  acting  for 
the  public  if  we  always  do  what  is  right,  the  approbation  denied 
in  the  beginning  will  surely  follow  in  the  end. 

43- 

What  all  agree  in  is  probably  right;  what  no  two  agree  in 
is  most  probably  wrong. 

44- 

If  we  are  to  dream,  the  flatteries  of  hope  are  as  cheap  and 
pleasanter  than  the  gloom1  of  despair. 

45. 

I  have  never  believed  there  was  one  code  of  morality  for  a 
public  and  another  for  a  private  man. 

46. 

Had  there  never  been  a  commentator  there  never  would  have 
been  an  infidel. 

47- 

Had  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  been  preached  always  as  pure  as 
they  came  from  his  lips,  the  whole  civilized  world  would  now 
have  been  Christian. 

48. 

Whatever  be  the  degree  of  talent  it  is  no  measure  of  right; 


434  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

because  Sir  Isaac  Newton  was  superior  to  others  in  under 
standing,  he  was  not  therefore  lord  of  the  person  or  property 
of  others. 

49- 

The  English  never  made  an  equal  commercial  treaty  with  any 
nation,  and  we  have  no  right  to  expect  to  be  the  first. 

50. 

Money  and  not  morality  is  the  principle  of  commerce  and 
commercial  nations. 


My  idea  is  that  we  should  encourage  home  manufactures  to 
the  extent  of  our  own  consumption  of  every  thing  of  which  we 
raise  the  raw  material. 

52. 

Never  fear  the  want  of  business.  A  man  who  qualifies  him 
self  well  for  his  calling  never  fails  of  employment  in  it> 

53- 

A  tour  (term)  of  duty,  in  whatever  line  he  can  be  most  useful 
to  his  country,  is  due  from  every  individual. 

54- 

I  have  never  conceived  that  having  been  in  public  life  re 
quires  me  to  belie  my  sentiments  or  even  to  conceal  them 

55- 

I  have  but  one  system  of  ethics  for  men  and  for  nations  — 
to  be  grateful,  to  be  faithful  to  all  engagements,  and,  under  all 
circumstances,  to  be  open  and  generous. 

56. 

Matrimony  illy  agrees  with  study,  especially  in  the  first  stages 
of  both. 

57- 
To  most  minds  exile  is  next  to  death;  to  many  beyond  it. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  435 

58. 

The  only  reward  I  ever  wished  on  my  retirement  was  to  carry 
with  me  nothing  like  a  disapprobation  of  the  public. 

59- 

If  some  termination  of  the  service  of  the  chief  magistrate  be 
not  fixed  by  the  Constitution,  his  office  will  become  for  life. 

60. 

The  main  objects  of  all  science  are  the  freedom  and  happiness 
of  man. 

61. 

To  be  really  useful  we  must  keep  pace  with  the  state  of 
society  and  not  dishearten  if  by  attempts  at  what  its  population, 
means,  or  occupations  will  fail  in  attempting. 


The  information  of  the  people  at  large  can  alone  make  them 
the  safe,  as  they  are  the  sole,  depository  of  our  religious  and 
political  freedom. 

63. 

There  are  two  subjects  which  I  shall  claim  a  right  to  further 
as  long  as  I  have  breath,  the  public  education  and  the  sub 
division  of  the  counties  into  wards  (townships).  I  consider 
the  continuance  of  Republican  government  as  absolutely  hang 
ing  on  these  two  hooks. 


A  Republican  government  is  slow  to  move,  yet  when  once  in 
motion  its  momentum  becomes  irresistible. 


The  equal  rights  of  man  and  the  happiness  of  every  individual 
are  the  only  legitimate  objects  of  government. 

66. 

We  may  still  believe  with  security  that  the  great  body  of 
American  people  must  for  ages  yet  be  substantially  Republican. 


436  THE   LIFE   AND   WRITINGS 

67S 

Opinion  and  the  just  maintenance  of  it  shall  never  be  a  crime 
in  my  view;  nor  bring  injury  on  the  individual. 

68. 

I  think  all  the  world  would  gain  by  setting  commerce  at 
perfect  freedom. 

69. 

I  had  ever  fondly  cherished  the  interests  of  the  West,  relying 
on  it  as  a  barrier  against  the  degeneracy  of  public  opinion 
from  our  original  and  free  principles. 

70.  */ 

Neither  natural  right  nor  reason  subjects  the  body  of  a  man 
to  restraint  for  debt. 

71- • 

I  know  of  no  safe  depository  of  the  ultimate  powers  of  society 
but  the  people  themselves. 

72. 

My  principle  is  to  do  whatever  is  right  and  leave  the  conse 
quences  to  Him  who  has  the  disposal  of  them. 

73 

No  man  on  earth  has  stronger  detestation  of  the  unprincipled 
tyrant  Bonaparte  than  myself. 

74- 
Nothing  betrays  imbecility  so  much  as  being  insensible  of  it. 

75- 

I  find  friendship  to  be  like  wine,  raw  when  new,  ripened  with 
age,  the  true  old  man's  milk  and  restorative  cordial. 

76. 

I  never  yet  saw  a  native  American  begging  in  the  streets  or 
highways. 

77- 

The  appointment  of  a  woman  to  office  is  an  innovation  for 
which  the  public  is  not  prepared,  nor  am  I. 


OF   THOMAS   JEFFERSON  437 

78 

I  hope  and  firmly  believe  that  the  whole  world  will  sooner 
or  later  feel  benefit  from  the  issue  of  our  assertions  of  the 
rights  of  man. 

V 
79- 

The  will  of  the  majority  honestly  expressed  should  give  law. 

80. 

I  find  that  he  is  happiest  of  whom  the  world  says  least,  good 
or  bad. 

81. 

Our  first  and  fundamental  maxim  should  be  never  to  entangle 
ourselves  in  the  toils  of  Europe.  Our  second,  never  to  suffer 
Europe  to  intermeddle  with  cis-Atlantic  affairs. 


No  government  can  be  maintained  without  the  principle  of 
fear  as  well  as  of  duty.  Good  men  will  obey  the  last,  but  bad 
ones  the.  former  only. 

83. 

Having  seen  the  people  of  all  other  nations  bow  down  to  the 
earth  under  the  wars  and  prodigalities  of  their  rulers,  I  have 
cherished  the  opposites,  peace,  economy,  and  riddance  of  the 
public  debt. 

84- 

I  have  no  fear  but  that  the  result  of  our  experiment  will  be 
that  men  may  be  trusted  to  govern  themselves  without  a  master. 

85- 

To  inform  the  minds  of  the  people  and  to  follow  their  will 
is  the  chief  duty  of  those  placed  at  their  head. 

86. 

I  have  such  reliance  on  the  good  sense  of  the  body  of  the 
people  and  the  honesty  of  their  leaders  that  I  am  not  afraid 
of  their  letting  things  go  wrong  to  any  length  in  any  cause. 


438  THE   LIFE  AND   WRITINGS 

87. 

We  wish  not  to  meddle  with  the  internal  affairs  of  any  coun 
try.  Peace  with  all  nations  and  the  right  which  that  peace 
gives  us  with  respect  to  all  nations,  are  our  object. 

88 
I  have  no  inclination  to  govern  men. 

89. 

It  is  incumbent  on  every  generation  to  pay  its  own  debt 
as  it  goes. 

90. 

It  ought  to  be  supplicated  from  heaven  by  the  prayers  of  the 
whole  world  that  at  length  there  may  be  on  earth  peace  and 
good  will  toward  men. 


INDEX. 


{References  arc  to  Pages.} 

A 

ACADEMY,  NATIONAL, 

proposed,  133. 
ADAMS,  JOHN, 

his  estimate  of  Jefferson,  13. 

on  committee  with  Jefferson,  14. 

on  committee  to  draft  Declaration  of  Independence,  17. 

with  Jefferson  in  France,  34. 

elected  President,  66. 

overtures  to  Jefferson,  67. 

threatens  France,  68. 

changes  policy  towards  France,  77. 

reconciliation  with  Jefferson,  121. 

dies  on  the  day  on  which  Jefferson  dies,  132. 

his  vanity  and  honesty,  133. 

his  unrepublicanisrn,  133.-~ 

felicitations  and  esteem  for,  134. 

contrasted  with  Hamilton,  239^ 

a  friend  of  monarchy,  307. 
ADAMS,  JOHN,  MRS., 

condoles  with  Jefferson,  100. 
ADAMS,  SAMUEL, 

a  tried  republican,  134. 

the  patriarch  of  liberty,  134.' 

estimate  of,  134. 
AFFLICTION, 

all  forms  of  experienced,  135. 
AGRICULTURE, 

the  noblest  occupation,  135. 

the  hope  of  the  State,  136. 

the  most  desirable  occupation,  137. 

produces  the  best  citizens,  137. 

the  best  basis  of  prosperity,  137.- 

its  limit,  301. 
ALBEMARLE  RESOLUTIONS, 

drawn  by  Jefferson,  12. 
ALIEN 

after  expatriation,  213. 

439 


44°  INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 
ALIEN  ACT, 

passed,  72. 

injurious  to  Federalist  party,  78. 

declared  void,  285. 

ALIEN  AND  SEDITION  LAWS,  137,  138. 

ALLIANCES, 

danger  of  foreign,  138.  * 

AMBASSADORS, 

President  to  decide  their  grade  and  where  they  should  be  sent,  138. 
salaries  of,  375. 

AMBITION, 

eradicated,  369. 

AMENDMENT  TO  CONSTITUTION, 
method  of,  138. 

AMERICA, 

not  dependent  upon  Britain,  256. 
the  guide  to  other  nations,  366. 

ANARCHY, 

English  reports  of,  139. 
"ANAS," 

Jefferson's  purpose  in  writing,  43. 
ANIMALS, 

the  law  of  their  growth,  139. 
APOCALYPSE, 

opinion  of,  139. 

APPOINTMENT  TO  OFFICE,  322-325,  429. 
APPROBATION,  140,  250,  433. 
ARISTOCRACY, 

false,  140. 

of  talent,  141. 

its  evil  effect,  141. 

would  be  extended  by  order  of  the  Cincinnati,  154. 

reluctant  to  abandon  monarchy,  306 .f 
ARMS, 

coat  of,  142. 

right  of  freemen  to  bear,  142. 

for  American  States,  192. 
ARMY, 

standing,  a  menace,  348. 
ARNOLD,  BENEDICT, 

invades  Virginia,  29. 
ARTISANS, 

dangerous  to  liberty,  137. 


INDEX.  44 l 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 


ARTS, 

tend  to  degrade,  136. 
ASSEMBLY, 

members  of  should  have  their  expenses  paid,  213. 
ASSUMPTION, 

Jefferson's  connection  with,  142. 
ATHEISM, 

Jefferson  charged  with,  143. 

B 

BANKS, 

their  function,  144. 
danger  of,  146. 

BANK,  THE  NATIONAL, 

an  offspring  of  assumption,  143. 
opposed  by  Jefferson,  144. 
opinion  concerning,  145. 
increased  circulation,  146. 
reasons  for  opposing,   179. 

BARLOW,  JOEL, 

recommended  to  Washington,  231. 

RELIEF,  RELIGIOUS, 

cannot  be  compelled,  359. 
BIBLE, 

in  the  schools*  195. 

BILL  OF  RIGHTS, 

the  people  entitled  to,  169.  - 

BI-METALISM,  147. 

BISHOPS, 

description  of  a  modern,  148. 

BLACKSTONE, 

his  influence,  303. 

BLOCKADE, 

when  lawful  148. 

BOLINGBROKE  AND  PAINE,  328. 
BONAPARTE, 

able  to  hold  France  together,  148. 

incapable  of  governing  rightly,  149. 

his  declaration  for  royalty,  149. 

character  of,  149. 

detestation  for,  436. 
BORROWING  POWER, 

should  be  taken  from  the  general  government,  329. 


442  INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 
BOTETOURT,  LORD, 

dissolves  the  House  of  Burgesses,  10. 

BOUNTIES, 

not  to  be  granted  by  Congress,  149. 

BRIBERY, 

a  disqualification  for  office,  150. 
of  Indians,  263. 
disqualifies  for  office,  401. 

BRITAIN, 

as  an  ally,  150. 

BUBBLES, 

bank  and  other,  150. 

BURR,  AARON, 

ties  Jefferson  in  Electoral  College,  82. 

kills  Hamilton,  105. 

forms  a  conspiracy,  105-107. 

arrested  for  conspiracy,  108. 

flees  abroad,  112. 

c 

CALUMNY,  151,  218. 

CANADA, 

cession  of,  151. 
CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT, 

the  last  resource,  184.' 
CAPITAL  CITY, 

its  situation  a  compromise,  143. 
CAPTIVES, 

treatment  of  in  modern  times,  152. 
GARY,  ARCHIBALD, 

reports  a  resolution  favoring  independence,  16. 
CENTRALIZATION, 

dangerous  effects  of,  399.  y' 
CHALLENGER  IN  A  DUEL, 

punishment  of,  193. 
CHARITY, 

method  of  bestowing,  152. 
CHASE,  SAMUEL, 

impeachment  and  trial  of.  100,  101. 
CHATHAM,  LORD, 

his  bill,  356. 
CHESAPEAKE, 

fired  upon  by  the  Leopard,  113, 


CHRISTIANITY, 
view  of,  152. 
Jefferson's  belief  in,  153. 
its  perversion,  153. 
remarks  upon,  153. 

CHURCH  AND  STATE, 
separation  of,  154. 

CHURCH, 

free  church  in  a  free  State,  358. 

CINCINNATI,  ORDER  OF, 
dangers  of,  154. 

members  espouse  monarchy,  307. 
fond  of  titles,  407. 

CITIES, 

corruption  of,  136. 
dangers  of,  154. 

CITIZENSHIP, 

test  of  good,  155. 

educational  qualification  for,  155. 

after  expatriation,  213. 

of  the  Indians,  263. 

of  annexed  territory,  300. 

CIVIL  POWER, 

superior  to  military,  155. 

CIVIL  RIGHTS, 

not  related  to  religious  opinions,  156.  *" 
CIVIL  SERVICE, 

tenure  of  office  in,  156. 
CIVILIZATION, 

accompanied  by  war,  419. 
CLARK,  GEORGE  ROGERS, 

captures  Col.  Hamilton,  28. 
CLASSICS, 

utility  of,  156. 
CLERGY, 

right  to  hold  office,  157. 

no  inercy  expected  from,  158. 

privilege  of,  293. 
CLINTON,  GEORGE, 

Republican  candidate  for  Vice-President,  100, 
COERCION, 

in  matters  of  opinion,  415.  \S 
COMMENTARIES,  433. 


INDEX.  443 

\References  arc  to  Pages*] 


444  INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages."] 

COLLEGES, 

proposed  system  of,  158. 

COLONIES, 

instruments  for  increase  of  commerce,  159.  ' 
treatment  of  by  George  III.,  231. 
independent  of  Parliament,  256. 
united  by  ties  of  honor,  415. 

COMMERCE, 

not  our  policy,  136. 

preferable  to  manufacturing,  137. 

freedom  in,  159. 

the  spirit  of  the  age,  159. 

with  England,  159. 

regulation  of  by  States,  159. 

to  be  regulated  by  Congress,  160. 

policy  respecting,  162. 

internal,  162. 

its  limit,  301. 

impossible  without  navy,  316. 

freedom  with  all  nations,  348. 

reciprocity  in,  355. 

COMMON  LAW, 

in  Federal  courts,  162. 

COMPROMISE,  163,  431. 

COMPULSION, 

in  religion,  357. 

CONDUCT, 

canons  of,  151. 
advice  as  to,  180. 

CONFEDERACIES, 

possibilities  of  two,  163. 

CONFEDERATION, 
powers  of,  163. 
a  perfect  instrument,  164. 
its  power  to  compel  a  State,  164. 
despair  of  accomplishing,  415. 

CONFIDENCE, 

the  parent  of  despotism,  164. 

CONGRESS, 

its  power  to  negative  a  State  law,  165. 

(Continental)  can  entertain  proposition  of  peace,  165. 

sovereignty  of,  391.  ^ 

the  head  of  the  nation,  391. 


INDEX.  445 

[References  are  to  Pages.} 
CONGRESSMEN, 

election  of,  201. 

residence  of,  369. 
CONNECTICUT, 

its  people,  372. 
CONQUEST,  431. 
CONSCIENCE, 

a  part  of  man,  312.  ^ 

rights  of,  359,  429." ' 

CONSERVATISM,  435. 

CONSPIRACY  OP  AARON  BURR,  105-107. 

CONSTITUTION, 

favored  by  Jefferson,  37. 

meaning  of  the  word,  167. 

should  provide  a  distribution  of  power,  168.  • 

its  good  and  bad  features,  168. 

Jefferson's  neutrality  toward,  169. 

Jefferson  upon  prospect  of  its  adoption,  170. 

obtained  without  bloodshed,  170. 

its  wisdom,  170.  v' 

construction  of,  171,  267. 

the  best  under  the  sun,  172. 

CONSTITUTIONS, 

made  for  the  living,  173,  174.  v 
should  not  be  perpetual,  175.  V 
written,  176. 

CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  THE  LAW,  174. 

CONSULS, 

their  rank,  176. 
qualifications  of,  176. 

CONTEMPTS, 

fines  and  imprisonment  for,  281. 

CONTRABANDS, 

should  not  exist,  177. 

CONTROVERSY, 

to  be  avoided,  177. 

COOPER,   THOMAS, 

consulted  as  to  course  of  study  for  University  of  Virginia,  124. 
Professor  of  Chemistry  in  University  of  Virginia,  127. 

CORNWALLIS,  LORD, 

harries  the  South,  27. 
plunders  Virginia,  29. 
destroys  Jefferson's  property,  31.  k  .<v<h 


446  INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages.'} 
CORPORATIONS,  v 

a  mcncics,  179. 

not  to  be  chartered  by  general  government,  179. 

chartered  by  Congress,  179. 
CORRESPONDENCE, 

between  citizens  a  natural  right,  179. 
CORRUPTION, 

how  to  prevent,  414. 
COUNSEL, 

to  his  daughter,  180,  181. 

to  nephew,  180. 

to  a  young  man,  182. 

to  the  Indians,  264. 
COURTS  OF  EQUITY,  208. 
COURTS, 

danger  from  Federal,  398.  See  Judiciary  Supreme  Court. 
CREATION, 

theory  concerning,  182. 
CREDIT, 

an  evil,  182. 

the  abolition  of,  182. 
CREED, 

political,  257. 

CRIMES, 

punishment  varies,  183. 
punishment  in  proportion  to,  184. 
act  for  punishment  of,  381. 

CRIMINALS, 

deportation  of,  184. 

reformation  of,  184. 
CUBA, 

annexation  of,  185. 

independence  of,  185. 

an  occasion  for  war,  185. 
CURRICULUM, 

for  Grammar  Schools,  194. 

for  a  University,  417. 

D 

DAVEISS, 

attorney  against  Burr,  105,  107. 

DEBT, 

the  power  of  the  living  to  contract,  186. 

a  curse,  432. 

to  be  paid  as  it  is  contracted,  438. 


INDEX.  447 

[.References  are  to  Pages.] 
DEBT,   NATIONAL, 

not  a  blessing,  186. 
sacredness  of,  187. 
doctrine  concerning,  187,  188. 
term  of  redemption,  187. 
opposition  to,  348. 

DEBTORS, 

fugitive,  trial  of,  230. 

DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE,  see  Independence. 

DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE, 
Jefferson's  political  creed,  257.  ^ 

DELAWARE, 

a  Quaker  State,  354. 

DEMOCRACY, v' 

the  safest  form  of  government,  190.  >• 
its  slowness,  190. 
features  of,  191. 
representative,  191. 

DEPARTMENTS  OF  GOVERNMENT,  168.> 
to  be  kept  separate,  233.  ^ 

DERNAH, 

captured  by  Gen.  Eaton,  102. 

DESCENTS, 

act  to  change  course  of,  381. 

DEVICE  FOR  AMERICAN  STATES,  192. 

DICKINSON,  JOHN, 

too  conservative  for  Jefferson,  13. 

DIFFICULTIES, 

how  to  solve,  429.  • 
DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE, 

rotation  in,  373. 
DISPENSATION, 

power  of,  293.  *•' 
DISSENSION,  POLITICAL, 

a  necessity,  192. 
DISSENSIONS, 

among  Christians,  358. 
DISSOLUTION, 

of  Great  Britain  impending,  236. 

of  representative  bodies,  365. 
DISUNION, 

danger  of  threatened,  1S2. 


44$  INDEX. 

{.References  are  to  Pages.] 

DOUGLAS,  REV.  WM., 

tutor  of  Jefferson,  3. 

DRUNKENNESS  IN  AMERICA,  193. 

DUELLING, 

punishment  for,  193. 

DUTIES, 

on  imported  books,  193. 

B 

EATON,  GENERAL, 

captures  Dernah,  102. 
approved  by  Burr,  106. 

ECONOMY, 

in  public  expenditure,  193. 
a  blessing,  432. 

EDUCATION, 

universal  advocated,  25. 

collegiate,  194. 

secondary,  194. 

should  be  at  the  public  expense,  195. 

the  place  of  the  classics  in,  195. 

in  Europe,  196. 

of  youths  of  genius,  196. 

of  youths  in  Europe,  196. 

of  the  masses,  197. 

a  course  of  higher  study  proposed,  198. 

of  the  common  people,  198. 

Jefferson's  solicitude  for,  198. 

general  scheme  of,  199. 

the  hope  of  the  world,  199. 

the  foe  of  tyranny,  242. 

value  of  languages  in,  293. 

diffusion  of,  382. 

curriculum  for  University,  417. 

of  the  people,  435. 

and  townships,  435. 

ELECTIONS, 

annual,  134. 
of  President,  200. 
intermeddling  with,  200. 
•  interference  in  by  officers,  20$. 
of  Congressmen,  201. 
interference  with,  336. 


INDEX.  449 

{References  are  to  Pages.] 

EMBARGO, 

laid  by  Jefferson,  114. 
effects  of,  115,  201. 

EMANCIPATION, 

favored  by  Jefferson,  25.  ^ 
favored,  201. 
obstacles  to,  383. 
prophesied,  383. 

EMPIRE, 

the  British  falling  asunder,  356. 

ENGLAND, 

as  an  ally,  150. 

her  avarice,  159. 

our  enemy,  202. 

compared  with  France,  202. 

the  natural  enemy  of  America,  203.  *' 

her  dominion  of  the  ocean,  205 

Jefferson  not  an  enemy  of,  206. 

should  be  a  friend  of  America,  207. 

claims  upon  America  compared  with  those  of  France,  217. 

ENGLISH, 

character  of,  207. 

ENTAILS, 

abolished  in  Virginia,  22. 
abolition  of,  381. 

ENTANGLEMENTS, 

with  foreign  nations,  215. 

EPICURES  AND  JESUS,  207-208. 
EQUITY  COURTS, 

should  be  distinct  from  courts  of  law,  208. 

ETHICS, 

for  man  and  nations,  434. 

ETIQUETTE, 

official  rules,  208. 

EXAMPLE,  429. 

EXECUTIVE, 

advantages  of  a  single,  209.  / 
independence  of,  210.  • 
sphere  of,  378.  ^ 

EXERCISE, 

rules  for,  211. 
walking  the  best,  242. 


45°  INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 
EXILE,  434. 

EXPANSION, 

power  of  Congress  in  reference  to,  211. 

happy  effects  of,  211. 

principle,  102. 

limit  of,  252. 

in  the  case  of  Louisiana,  300. 

EXPATRIATION, 

views  on,  212. 
right  of,  213,  381. 

EXPENSES, 

of  members  of  General  Assembly,  213. 

F 

FARMERS, 

their  dignity,  213. 

the  true  representatives  of  American  interests,  214. 

FARMING, 

Jefferson's  only  occupation,  214. 

FAUQUIER,  FRANCIS, 

a  friend  of  Jefferson,  5. 

FEDERAL,  JUDICIARY,  272-281.* 
and  the  common  law,  162. 
appeal  to  from  State  court,  165. 

FEDERALIST,   THE, 

the  best  commentary  on  government,  214. 

FEDERALISTS, 
pure,  332. 

FENNO, 

editor  of  the  Gazette  of  the  United  States,  45. 

FICTION,  215. 

FINANCES  OF  HAMILTON,  241. 
FOREIGN  EDUCATION  OF  YOUTH,  196. 
FOREIGN  ENTANGLEMENTS,  215,  349,  437. 

FOREIGN  MINISTERS, 

limited  term  of  office.  216. 

FRANCE, 

not  a  serious  nation,  216. 
Jefferson's  love  for,  216. 
congratulations  upon  its  freedom,  216. 
her  claims  upon  America,  217. 


INDEX.  45 1 

[References  are  to  Pages."} 
^FRANKLIN,  BENJAMIN, 

serves  on  committee  with  Jefferson,  14. 

appointed  to  act  with  French  envoy,  16. 

on  committee  to  draft  Declaration  of  Independence,  17. 

sent  as  ambassador  to  France,  20. 

esteem  for,  217. 
[FREEDOM, 

great  cost  of,  366. 

United  States  the  guardian  of,  218. 
FREEDOM  OF  THE  PRESS,  218,  249. 
FREEDOM  OF  RELIGIOUS  BELIEF,  232,  358,  363. 
FREE  GOODS  WITH  FREE  SHIPS,  219. 
FREE  TRADE,  159. 
FRENCH  REVOLUTION, 

progress  of,  220. 

wrought  by  public  opinion,  220. 

sketch  of  its  development,  221-223. 

interest  of  Jefferson,  224. 

its  issue,  224. 

sympathy  with,  225. 

represented  by  the  Jacobins,  226. 

its  influence  in  the  United  States,  227. 

its  reception  in  Philadelphia,  227. 

sympathy  with,  227,  228. 

its  errors,  228. 

well  wisher  of,  349. 
FRENEAU,  PHILIP, 

a  clerk  in  the  office  of  Jefferson,  44. 

editor  of  National  Gazette,  45. 

supports  the  side  of  France,  51. 

his  newspaper,  229. 

as  a  man  of  genius,  231. 
FRIENDSHIP, 

the  pleasure  of,  229. 

influence  of  public  life  upon,  230. 

grades  of,  436. 

FRUGALITY  IN  GOVERNMENT,  348.  ^ 
FUGITIVE  DEBTORS, 

extradition  and  trial  of,  230. 

G 

GALLATIN,  ALBERT, 

Secretary  of  Treasury  under  Jefferson,  86. 
GAMING, 

a  miserable  resource,  266. 


45 2  INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 
GENET, 

lands  in  Charleston,  51. 

arrives  in  Philadelphia,  51. 

commissions  the  Little  Democrat,  52. 

recalled,  54. 

his  malign  influence,  230. 

GENIUS, 

among  the  poorer  classes,  196. 

should  be  rewarded  by  government,  231. 

GEORGE  III., 

tyranny  of,  155.  x 

epitome  of  his  reign,  231. 

the  American  Messiah,  232. 

treatment  of  the  colonies  during  his  reign,  231. 

appealed  to,  231. 

an  officer  of  the  people,  231. 

his  treatment  of  colonies,  258-261. 

ignores  petitions,  339. 

his  plans  against  liberty,  371. 

GERRY,  ELBRIDGE, 

early  friend  of  Jefferson,  7. 
envoy  to  France,  70. 
recalled  from  France,  72. 

GOOD  HUMOR,  232. 

GOLD, 

its  ratio  to  silver,  309. 

GOVERNMENT,  V 

function  of,  232. 

has  no  control  over  opinion,  232. 

degeneracy  of,  233. 

energy  of,  233. 

three  branches  of,  233. 

its  blessing  questioned,  233. 

its  true  purpose,  234. 

true  principles  of,  234. 

its  rights  over  individuals,  234. 

ours  the  best,  235. 

moral  principles  of,  235. 

essential  principles  of,  248. 

by  the  majority,  379. 

right  of  people  to  form,  391. 
GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS, 

curriculum  of,  194. 
GRAND  JURIES, 

constitutional  inquisitors,  236. 


INDEX.  453 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 


GREAT  BRITAIN, 

impending  dissolution  of,  236. 
GREEK  AND  LATIN 

utility  of,  156. 
GREEK, 

to  be  taught  in  Grammar  Schools,  195. 
GRIEF, 

uselessness  of,  236. 

H 

HABEAS  CORPUS, 

writ  of,  236. 

its  suspension  questioned,  237. 
HABITS  OF  JEFFERSON,  237. 
HAMILTON,    COLONEL, 

captured   by  Clark,   28. 
HAMILTON,  ALEXANDER, 

in  cabinet  with  Jefferson,  42. 

quarrels  with  Jefferson,  45. 

attitude  towards  Whisky  Rebellion,  6L 

defends  Jay's  treaty,  63. 

made  Inspector  General,  71. 

supports  Jefferson  for  President,  81. 

killed  by  Burr,  105. 

a  monarchist,  238.  <•' 

his  system  disapproved  of,  239.  <• 

desires  respecting  the  Constitution,  239,  240. 

his  newspaper  squabbling,  240. 

his  supreme  talents,  241. 

his  accounts  hard  to  understand,  241. 

his  complicated  system,  241. 

his  defense  of  Jay's  Treaty,  269. 

ardent  for  a  Monarchy,  307,  308. 
HAPPINESS  OF  HOME,  243. 

how  to  secure,  429. 
HARRISON,  BENJAMIN, 

on  a  committee  with  Jefferson,  12. 
HATRED  OF  ENGLAND  FOR  AMERICA,  203, 
HAY,  GEORGE, 

prosecutes  Burr,  108. 
HEALTH, 

more  valuable  than  knowledge,  242. 

preferable  to  all  things,  242. 
HEAVEN, 

different  paths  to,  357. 


454  INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 

HENRY,  PATRICK, 

with  Jefferson  in  Virginia  Legislature,  9. 
colleague  of  Jefferson  in  Virginia  Convention,  11. 
eloquence  of,  12. 

HISTORY, 

knowledge  of  helpful  to  citizenship,  242. 
not  a  difficult  study,  243. 
the  writing  of,  243. 

HOME, 

happiness  of,  243. 

HOMER,  243. 

HONESTY, 

the  wise  policy,  432. 

HUME, 

his  influence,  303. 

HYPOCRISY, 

fostered  by  religious  restraint,  359. 


IDLENESS, 

its  baleful  effects,  266, 

IMMIGRATION, 

dangers  of,  243. 

IMMORTALITY, 

anticipations  of,  244. 

IMPEACHMENT  OF  JUDGES,  272,  279. 

IMPRESS  MENT, 

of  American  sailors,  244. 
protection  of  seamen  from,  245. 
an  American  grievance,  245. 

IMPROVEMENTS, 
internal,  251. 

INAUGURAL, 

to  General  Assembly  of  Virginia,  140. 
first  address,  245. 
second,  250. 

INCOME  TAX,  405. 

INDUSTRY, 

the  secret  of  happiness,  266. 
effect  of  slavery  upon,  384. 


INDEX.  455 

[References  are  to  Pages.1} 


INDEPENDENCE, 

the  sentiment  for,  257. 

sentiment  for  in  Virginia,  256. 

early  declaration  of,  256. 

not  desired  in  1776,  263. 

declaration  of  (text),  257. 

declaration  written  by  Jefferson,  17. 

opinions  concerning  declaration,  19. 
INDIANS, 

Jefferson's  concern  for,  252. 

to  be  paid  for  their  lands,  263. 

protection  of,  263. 

bribery  of,  263. 

their  Taws,  263. 

should  become  citizens,  263. 

plans  for  civilizing,  264. 

counsel  to,  264. 

during  war,  265. 
INHERITANCES, 

Congress  cannot  regulate,  266. 

should  be  divided  equally,  4Q4. 
INTELLECT, 

pleasures  of,  341. 

INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS,  267. 
INTOLERANCE,  POLITICAL,  247.  */ 
INSURRECTIONS,  267. 
INVENTIONS, 

rights  of  inventors  to,  268. 
INVENTORS, 

right  of,  335. 

J 

JACOBINS, 

true  representatives  of  French  Revolution,  226. 

sympathy  with,  226. 

ruined  by  their  own  power,  269. 
JAY,  JOHN, 

envoy  to  France,  16. 

makes  treaty  with  England,  62. 
JAY'S  TREATY, 

its  unpopularity,  269. 

Jefferson  opposes,  269. 

dissatisfaction  with,  269. 
JEALOUSY, 

free  government  founded  on,  165. 


INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 

JEFFERSON,  PETER, 

father  of  Thomas,  3. 
JEFFERSON,  THOMAS, 

birth  and  ancestry,  3. 

early  education,  3. 

college  career,  4. 

youthful  habits,  5. 

companions  while  at  college,  5. 

reads  law,  6. 

a  diligent  scholar,  6. 

in  love,  6. 

admitted  to  the  bar,  7. 

journey  northward,  7. 

inheritance,  7. 

a  scientific  farmer,  8. 

a  lawyer,  8. 

elected  to  House  of  Burgesses,  9. 

works  for  emancipation  of  slaves,  10. 

home  destroyed  by  fire,  10. 

marries  Martha  Skelton,  10. 

writes  "Summary  View,"  11. 

placed  on  the  committee  of  defense,  12. 

goes  to  Congress  instead  of  Peyton  Randolph,  12. 

replies  to  Lord  North's  "Conciliatory  Proposition,"  13. 

a  man  of  the  world,  13. 

gives  way  to  Dickinson,  13. 

brought  to  the  front  by  his  pen,  14. 

elected  to  Congress  a  second  time,  14. 

champion  of  religious  liberty,  15. 

loses  his  second  child,  15. 

denies  the  right  of  Great  Britain  to  legislate  for  America,  15. 

appointed  to  act  with  French  envoy,  16. 

writes  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  18. 

outlines  a  Constitution  for  Virginia,  20. 

appointed  ambassador  to  France — refuses,  20. 

begins  his  labors  as  a  law  reformer,  21. 

abolishes  entails,  22. 

makes  naturalization  easy,  23. 

works  for  religious  liberty,  23.' 

favors  emancipation,  24. 

advocates  universal  education,  25. 

labors  on  the  revision  of  the  laws  of  Virginia,  25. 

elected  Governor  of  Virginia,  26. 

secures  Northwest  Territory  for  Virginia,  28. 

energy  displayed  during  the  invasion  of  Virginia,  29. 

declines  third  term  as  Governor,  30. 

escapes  from  Monticello,  31. 


INDEX.  457 

[References  are  to  Pages."] 
JEFFERSON,    THOMAS,  Cont'd. 
hatred  for  Cornwallis,  31. 
actions  as  Governor  vindicated,  32. 
grief  for  death  of  wife,  32. 

appointed  second  time  as  Minister  to  France,  32. 
active  service  in  Congress,  33. 

draws  up  a  plan  for  the  government  of  Northwest  Territory,  33. 
proposes  a  plan  for  coinage,  34. 
Minister  to  France,  34. 
publishes  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  35. 
efforts  in  behalf  of  American  commerce,  35. 
visits  England,  35. 
resents  Algerine  outrages,  36. 
favors  new  Constitution,  37. 
conduct  as  a  diplomat,  39. 
gives  advice  to  Lafayette,  38. 
leaves  France  for  America.  41. 
made  Secretary  of  State,  41. 
contrasted  with  Hamilton,  42. 
author  of  the  "Anas/'  43. 
attacked  by  Hamilton,  45. 

reports  as  Secretary  of  State  concerning  Spain,  France  and  Eng 
land,  47. 

friendship  for  France,  49. 
correspondence  with  Genet,  52. 
remains  neutral  in  the  French  trouble,  53. 
manages  Genet  with  skill,  54. 
resigns  the  secretaryship,  56. 
retires  to  Monticello,  57. 
domestic  life  at  Monticello,  57. 
farming  operations,  58,  59. 
invents  mould-boards  of  least  resistance,  60. 
sympathizes  with  Whisky  Rebellion,  61. 
opinion  concerning  Jay's  treaty,  62. 
criticises  Jay's  treaty,  63. 
candidate  for  President,  64. 
chosen  Vice-President,   66. 
resides  in  Philadelphia,  66. 
receives  overtures  from  Adams,  67. 
presiding  officer  of  Senate,  69. 
compiles  Manual  of  Parliamentary  Laws,  69. 
anxious  for  the  Democratic  party,  70. 
draws  Kentucky  Resolutions,  75. 
joins  the  Revolutionary  movement,  78. 
again  candidate  for  President,  79. 
conducts  a  quiet  campaign,  79. 
elected  President,  82. 


458 


INDEX. 


{.References  are  to  Pages.] 
JEFFERSON,    THOMAS,  Cont'd. 

aroused  by  contest  for  Presidency,  82. 

bids  the  Senate  farewell,  83. 

circumstances  of  inauguration,  85. 

chooses  cabinet,  86. 

regards  his  election  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  era,  87. 

refuses  to  make  party  spoils  of  the  offices,  87. 

sends  his  message  to  Congress  instead  of  delivering  it  orally, 

has  the  Judiciary  Act  repealed,  90. 

takes  steps  to  secure  control  of  Mississippi,  91. 

plays  politics  in  the  Louisiana  matter,  93. 

assents  to  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  97. 

renominated  for  President,  100. 

re-elected,  101. 

delivers  his  second  inaugural,  101. 

conciliates  Bonaparte,  103. 

ignores  Burr's  movements,  108. 

quarrels  with  Marshall,  112. 

orders  British  vessels  to  leave  American  waters,  113. 

animosity  to  Marshall,  110. 

lays  embargo,  114. 

chooses  Madison  as  successor,  116. 

last  retirement,  117. 

writes  many  letters,  119. 

President  of  American  Philosophic  Society,  119. 

domestic  life  in  old  age,  120. 

reconciliation  with  John  Adams,  121. 

interest  in  the  war  of  1812,  122. 

changes  views  as  to  manufactures,  123. 

begins  plans  for  University  of  Virginia,  124. 

sells  his  library  to  Congress,  125. 

curtails  correspondence,  126. 

first  rector  of  University  of  Virginia,  127. 

engages  in  the  work  of  the  University,  129. 

financial  difficulties,  130. 

tries  to  save  his  property  by  a  lottery  scheme,  131. 

taken  ill  and  dies,  132. 

JESUS, 

the  doctrines  of,  270. 

perversion  of  the  doctrines  of,  271. 

moral  precepts  of,  312. 

mission  of,  358. 

his  place  in  history,  359. 

and  Epicurus,  207. 

JUDGES, 

removal  from  office,  272. 


INDEX.  459 

[References  are  to  Pages."] 


JUDGES,  Cont'd. 

qualifications  for,  272. 
length  of  term  of  office,  282. 

JUDICIARY, 

independence  of,  233,  272,  273. 

JUDICIARY,   FEDERAL,   272-281.  ^ 
danger  from,  280. 
its  sphere,  378. 

JURIES, 

as  judges  of  fact,  281. 

their  importance  to  liberty,  282. 

JURY, 

classes  of  cases  tried  by,  281. 
trial  defended,  286. 

JUSTICE, 

a  branch  of  sovereignty,  282. 


KENTUCKY  RESOLUTIONS  (text),  282. 

drawn  by  Jefferson,  74. 
KING,  RUFUS, 

federalist  candidate  for  Vice-President,  100. 
KINGS, 

a  sorry  lot,  290 

servants  of  the  people,  290. 

the  common  sense  of,  291. 

executive  power  of,  354. 
KINGS,  NOBLES  AND  PRIESTS,  140. 
KNOWLEDGE, 

of  less  value  than  health,  242. 
KNOX,  JOHN, 

submits  to  Hamilton,  50. 

made  Major  General,  71. 
KOSCIUSKO, 

a  pure  sou  of  liberty,  291. 

L 

LABORERS, 

members  of  the  Democratic  party,  33L 
LAFAYETTE, 

receives  advice  from  Jefferson,  38. 

exhorted  to  declare  for  the  people,  291. 


INDEX. 

{References  are  to  Paget.] 
LAND, 

natural  appropriation  of,  186. 
title  to,  292. 
allotment  of,  292. 
a  common  stock,  292. 
the  tax  upon,  404. 

LAND-HOLDERS, 

members  of  the  Democratic  party,  331. 

LANDS,  PUBLIC, 

to  be  purchased  from  Indians,  263. 
appropriation  of,  292. 

LANGUAGES,  196,  292. 

LATIN, 

to  be  taught  in  Grammar  Schools,  195. 
utility  of,  156. 

LAW, 

spirit  of,  395.  '«/ 

LAW  OF  NATIONS,  219. 

LAW  CONNECTED  WITH  POLITICS,  293. 

LAWS, 

evil  of  retrospective,  294. 

the  instability  of,  294. 

when  changeable,  294. 

sanguinary,  293. 

should  not  be  perpetual,  175X 
LAWYERS  AND  LIBERTY,  302. 
LAWYERS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND,  294. 
LEANDER, 

fires  upon  American  vessel,  104. 
LEE,  R.  H., 

serves  on  committee  with  Jefferson,  12. 

moves  independence,  16. 
LEGISLATURE, 

should  have  two  or  three  branches,  233. 

independence  of,  233. 

should  not  interfere  in  foreign  affairs,  295. 

dissolution  of,  391. 
LEGISLATURES, 

to  be  chosen  by  lot,  295. 

tyranny  of,  295. 

LEOPARD  ATTACKS  CHESAPEAKE,  113. 
LESLIE,  GENERAL, 

invades  Virginia,  28. 


INDEX.  461 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 
LIBELS, 

punishment  of,  254. 
prosecution  for,  296. 

LIBERT^       / 

indissoluble  from  life,  296. 

a  gift  of  God,  296. 

accompanied  by  turbulence,  296. 

its  slow  growth,  297. 

nourished  by  rebellion,  354. 

how  acquired,  432. 
LIBRARY, 

public,  of  Richmond,  297. 
LIBRARIES  FOR  EVERY  COUNTY,  297. 
LINCOLN,  LEVI, 

Attorney-General  in  Jefferson's  cabinet,  86. 

LIVINGSTON,  R.  R., 

services  concerning  Louisiana  purchase,  90. 

conducts  the  Louisiana  matter,  93. 

closes  Louisiana  purchase,  95. 
LONDON, 

Jefferson's  dislike  for,  216. 
LOTTERY,  433. 
LOUISIANA, 

the  retrocession  of,  92. 

purchased  from  France,  95. 

denied  popular  rights,  99. 

cession  of.  298-300. 
LOUISIANA  PURCHASE,  300. 
LUXURY, 

fostered  by  credit,  182. 

M 

MADISON,  JAMES, 

an  ally  of  Jefferson  in  law  reform,  26. 

brings  about  Jefferson's  appointment  as  Minister  to  France,  32. 

exhorted  to  oppose  Hamilton,  63. 

writes  Virginia  Resolutions,  75. 

member  of  Jefferson's  cabinet,  86. 

antagonized  by  Randolph,  104. 

chosen  by  Jefferson  as  a  successor,  116. 

President,  117. 

character  of,  301. 

MAGISTRATE, 

power  of  in  religion,  357. 


INDEX. 
[References  are  to  Pages.l 

MAJORITY, 

will  of,  246. 

rule  of,  the  natural  law  of  society,  379. 

MANUAL  OF  PARLIAMENTARY  LAW, 
compiled  by  Jefferson,  69. 

MANUFACTURES, 

the  comforts  of,  159. 
their  limit,  301. 

MARITIME  LAW,  177,  219. 
MARSHALL,  JOHN, 

reads  law  with  John  Wythe,  5. 

envoy  to  France,  70. 

administers  oath  of  office  to  Jefferson,  86. 

offends  Jefferson  in  the  Burr  matter,  109. 

MARSHALS,  FEDERAL,  322,  323. 
MASSACHUSETTS,  APOSTASY,  302. 
MATRIMONY,  434. 
MAZZEI, 

extract  from  letter  to,  308. 

MAURY,  JAMES, 

a  teacher  of  Jefferson,  4. 

MERCHANTS, 

unpatriotic,  302. 

METEMPSYCHOSIS, 

hypothesis  of,  303. 

MILITARY  POWER, 

subordinate  to  civil,  155. 

MILITIA, 

our  natural  defense,  304. 
retained  for  internal  defense,  348. 
reliance  upon,  420. 

MINISTERS, 

must  be  personae  gratae,  304. 

MINORITY, 

rights  of,  246. 
MISSISSIPPI, 

navigation  of,  305,  315. 
MISSOURI  QUESTION, 

not  moral,  305. 

MONARCHICAL  LEANINGS  OF  CERTAIN  PEOPLE,  225, 
MONARCHISTS,  332. 


INDEX.  463 

{References  are  to  Pages.1} 


MONARCHY, 

easily  abandoned,  305. 

contrasted  with  a  Republic,  305. 

the  source  of  evil,  306. 

advocated  in  high  quarters,  307. 

tendencies  toward,  308. 

partizans  of,  309. 

basis  of  a  party  of,  331. 

Constitution  used  as  a  stepping-stone  to,  365. 

outgrowth  of  strong  government,  397. 

MARYLAND, 

slavery  in,  385. 

MONEY, 

unit  of,  147. 

the  value  of  gold  and  silver,  309. 

system  of  proposed,  310. 

specie  the  best,  310. 

should  be  metallic,  311. 

paper,  329. 

MONROE,  JAMES, 

condoles  with  Jefferson,  32. 

sent  as  envoy  to  France,  68. 

recalled  from  France,  68. 

acts  with  Livingston,  93. 

closes  the  Louisiana  purchase,  94. 

supported  by  Randolph  for  Presidency,  104. 

MONROE  DOCTRINE, 
agreed  to,  311. 

MONTICELLO, 

the  sight  of  Jefferson's  home,  10. 
beauties  of,  311. 

MORALITY, 

may  be  cultivated.  312. 

founded  in  utility,  312. 

the  guide  of  life,  312. 

public  and  private,  433. 
MORALS, 

determined  by  sentiment,  313. 
MORRIS,  GOUVERNEUR, 

objections  to  him,  313. 
MOTTO  FOR  AMERICAN  STATES,  192. 
MUSIC, 

Jefferson's  passion  for,  313. 

skill  of  the  negro  in,  317. 


MUTINY, 

punishment  of,  352. 


INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 

N 


NAMES, 

giving  of,  313. 

NATIONAL  ACADEMY  PROPOSED,  133. 
NATIONAL  BANK, 

opinion  concerning,  145,  146. 
NATIONAL  DEBT, 

not  a  blessing,  186. 

NATIONAL  GOVERNMENT, 

arbitrary  course  of,  314. 
NATIONAL  UNIVERSITY, 

proposed  to  Congress,  314. 

NATURAL  RIGHTS,  372. 
NATURALIZATION, 

made  easy,  23. 

qualifications  for.  314. 

period  of,  315. 
NAVIGATION, 

of  Mississippi,  305,  315. 

a  natural  right,  315. 

its  double  importance,  316. 
NAVY, 

Secretary  of  difficult  to  find.  316. 

a  protection  to  commerce,  316. 

the  necessity  for,  420. 

NEGROES, 

their  lack  of  imagination,  317. 

their  improvement  hoped  for,  317. 

colonizing  of,  317. 

disposed  to  steal,  317. 

their  heart,  317. 

brought  into  Virginia,  382. 
NEIGHBORS,  318. 
NEPOTISM, 

Jefferson  guiltless  of,  318. 

a  wrong  principle,  319. 
NEUTRALS, 

their  duty,  391. 
NEUTRALITY, 

the  policy  of  the  United  States,  337. 


INDEX.  465 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 


NEW  ENGLAND, 

its  bickerings  of  secession,  375. 
NEWS, 

of  the  neighborhood  the  best,  319. 
NEWSPAPERS, 

^prosecution  of,  296. 

live  on  dissension,  319. 

avoidance  of,  319. 
-the  safety  of  governments,  320. 
-  unreliability  of,  320. 

writing  for,  321. 
NEWTON, 

his  greatness,  340. 
NEW  YORK, 

no  established  church  in,  154. 
NON-IMPORTATION  BILL, 

passed,  103. 
NON-INTERCOURSE, 

better  than  war,  321. 
NORTHWEST  TERRITORY, 

secured  for  Virginia,  28. 

plan  of  government  proposed,  33. 
NOTABLES, 

the  assembly  of,  216,  221. 
NOVELS, 

their  evil,  321. 
NULLIFICATION, 

doctrine  of,  283. 

defended,   287. 


OATH  OF  OFFICE,  150. 
OFFICE, 

the  cares  of,  371. 

rotation  in,  373. 

tenure  of,  406. 

belongs  to  the  locality,  430. 

not  to  be  held  by  women,  436. 
OFFICES, 

nepotism  in  giving,  319. 

removal  from,  322. 

geographical  distribution  of,  322. 

appointments  and  removals,  322,  323,  324. 

answers  to  applications  for,  325. 

grounds  for  removal  from,  325. 


466  INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages.1} 
OHIO  RIVER,  327. 
OLIGARCHY, 

unfit  for  executive  business,  327. 
OLIVE  PLANT, 

brought  to  America,  381. 
OPINION, 

respect  due  to,  327. 

difference  in,  429. 

integrity  of,  327. 
ORDERS, 

in  council  reach  Jefferson,  114. 
OSSIAN, 

admired  by  Jefferson,  327. 

P 

PAGE,  JOHN, 

Jefferson's  friend,  6. 

rival  for  office,  26. 
PAINE,    THOMAS, 

recommended  to  Washington,  231. 

opinions  professed,  328. 

and  Bolingbroke,  328. 
PAPER  MONEY, 

its  nature,  310. 

not  a  legal  tender,   329. 
PARDON, 

power  of,  293. 

rule  for  granting,  329. 
PARLIAMENT, 

America's  independence  of,  256. 

authority  of  denied,  329. 

deaf  to  remonstrances,  339. 
PAROLE, 

sentiment  respecting,  329. 

breach  of,  330. 
PARTIES, 

origin  of.  330. 

analysis   of,  330. 

difference  between,  331. 

consolidation  of,  331. 

natural  division  of,  332. 

and  the  public  good,  333. 

amalgamation  of4  431. 
PARTIZANSHIP, 

offensive,  327. 


INDEX.  467 

[References  are  to  Pages.'] 


PARTY, 

hot  bound  by,  334. 

loyalty  professed,  335. 
PARTY  SPIRIT, 

in  1797,  335. 

should  be  curbed,  430. 
PATENTS, 

length  of  right,  335. 
PATRIOTISM,  151. 

impossible  among  slaves,  384. 

test  of.  395. 
PATRONAGE, 

bestowal  of,  326. 

of  general  government,  336. 
PAUL, 

a  corrupter  of  the  doctrines  of  Jesus,  365. 
PEACE, 

the  most  important  interest,  215. 

a  condition  of,  257. 

the  best  policy,  336. 

Jefferson's  love  for,  336. 

the  true  policy  of  all  government,  338. 

spirit  of  1793,  339. 

desire  for,  438. 

PEOPLE, 

the  depositories  of  government,  233. 

the  proper  censors  of  government,  339. 

their  right  to  form  a  government,  391. 

sovereignty  of,  392. 

to  be  trusted,  432. 
PETITIONS, 

to  Parliament  fruitless,  339. 
PENNSYLVANIA, 

no  established  church  in,  154. 
PHILOSOPHERS, 

a  superior  order  of  genius,  340. 
PHILOSOPHY, 

sacred  name  of,  349. 
PICKERING,  JUDGE, 

impeachment  of,  99. 
PINCKNEY,  C.  C., 

Federalist  candidate  for  President,  100. 
PLATO, 

overrated,  340. 


468  INDEX. 

[.References  are  to  Pages.] 
PLEASURES, 

of  the  intellect,  341. 

POETRY, 

loss  of  taste  for,  342. 

POLITICS, 

connected  with  law,  293. 

POLITENESS, 

preservative  of  peace,  342. 

POWER, 

of  office,  343. 

its  proper  use,  343. 

PRECEDENCE, 

rules  of,  208. 

PRESBYTERIANISM, 

intolerance  of,  344. 

PREROGATIVES, 

of  the  President,  380. 
PRESIDENCY, 

seven  years'  term,  345. 

election  of,  200. 
PRESIDENT, 

should  not  be  re-eligible,  306. 
PRESIDENTIAL  TOURS,   346. 

PRESS, 

freedom  of,  218,  254,  284,  347,  349,  378. 

PRINCE  OP  WALES, 

character  of,  347. 
PRINCIPLES, 

constancy  of  Jefferson's,  348. 
PRIESTS  AND  LIBERTY,  302. 
PRIESTLY, 

the  apostle  of  science,  347. 
PROFESSION, 

of  political  faith,   348. 

PROGRESS,  349. 
PROPERTY, 

qualification  for  voting,  400,  401. 

PROSCRIPTION, 

on  account  of  religion,  156. 

PROTECTION, 

to  manufactures,  350,  434. 
PSEUDO-ARISTOCRACY,  141 


INDEX.  469 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 


PUBLIC  DEBT, 

sacred,  187. 

doctrine  concerning,  187. 
PUBLIC  LANDS, 

appropriation  of,  292. 
PUBLIC  OPINION, 

the  support  of  government,  350. 
PUBLIC  SERVICE,  214,  250. 

not  conducive  to  happiness,  351. 
PULPIT, 

the  place  for  religious  discussion  only,  351. 
PUNISHMENT, 

for  crimes,  183,  184. 

for  duelling,  193. 

in  proportion  to  crime,  293. 

for  breach  of  parole,  330. 

of  soldiers,  352. 

Q 

QUAKERS, 

character  of.  353. 
in  Delaware,  354. 

QUARTERING  TROOPS,  354. 

B 

RANDOLPH,  PEYTON, 

recalled  from  Congress,  12. 
RANDOLPH,  EDMOND, 

succeeds  Jefferson,  61. 
RANDOLPH,  JOHN, 

carries  Louisiana  purchase  through  the  House,  98. 

irritated  by  Jefferson,  101. 

breaks  with  Jefferson,  103. 

tries  to  displace  Madison  with  Monroe,  104. 

foreman  of  jury  at  Burr's  trial,  111. 

his  doctrine  concerning  treaties,  413. 

RATIO, 

of  gold  to  silver,  309. 
REASON, 

cannot  regulate  morals,  313. 

the  guide  of  life,  359. 
REBELLION, 

fondness  of  Jefferson  for,  9. 

a  necessary  medicine,  297. 

sometimes  wholesome,  354. 

makes  for  liberty,  355. 


47°  INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 
RECIPROCITY, 

in  trade,  355. 

the  interest  of  nations,  355. 
RECONCILIATION, 

with  England,  356. 
REFORMATION, 

of  criminals,  184. 

RELIGION, 

proscription  on  account  of,  156. 

independent  of  general  government,  252. 

freedom  in,  349. 

compulsion  in,  357. 

essence  of,  357. 

freedom  of  established  in  Virginia,  358. 

of  Jesus,  358. 

uniformity  in,  359. 

examination  of,  360. 

revealed  in  conduct,  362. 

of  Jefferson,  364. 
RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY, 

advocated  by  Jefferson,  23. 
REPRESENTATIVE  BODIES, 

dissolution  of,  365. 
REPUBLICANISM, 

readily  adopted,  305. 

the  young  attached  to,  306. 

of  the  people,  307. 

testimony  to,  365. 

restored,  366. 

of  the  Constitution,  366. 

of  Washington,  421. 
REPUBLICS,  366,  367. 
RESIDENCE. 

of  Congressmen,  369. 
RETIREMENT,  351,  369,  370,  371. 
RETROSPECTIVE  LAWS,  294. 
REVENUE  OP  GOVERNMENT, 

should  not  be  permanent,  371. 
REVOLUTION, 

cause  of,  371. 
RHODE  ISLAND, 

its  people  merchants,  372. 
RICE, 

consumption  of  in  France,  372. 

introduced  into  America,  382. 


RICHMOND, 

public  library,  297. 
RIGHTS, 

of  freemen,  142,  358. 

in  society,  372. 
RITTENHOUSE, 

genius  of  rewarded,  231. 
ROCHEFOUCAULD, 

visits  Monticello,  59. 
ROGUES, 

always  uppermost,  373. 
ROTATION, 

in  office,  169,  170,  373,  374. 

s 

SALARIES, 

of  Foreign  Ministers,  375. 
SALVATION,  375. 
SANGUINARY  LAWS.  293. 
SCIENCE, 

encouragement  of,  349. 
SECESSION, 

spirit  of  in  Massachusetts,  302. 

its  logical  results,  375. 

reprobated,  376,  377. 

worse  than  war,  416. 
SECRECY, 

of  public  transactions,  377. 
SEDITION  ACT,  78,  137. 

declared  void,  285,  377. 
SEIZURES, 

wrongfully  made,  378. 
SELF-GOVERNMENT,  379. 
SENATE, 

its  power  in  reference  to  appointments,  326, 
SENTIMENT, 

the  guide   to  morality,  313. 
SEPARATION, 

of  Church  and  State,  154. 
SEPARATION, 

from  Great  Britain,  403. 
SERVICES, 

of  Jefferson,  381. 


INDEX.  471 

{References  are  to  Pages."} 


472  INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages."} 

SILVER, 

its  ratio  to  gold,  309. 
the  money  unit,  310. 

SKELTON,  MARTHA. 

Jefferson  marries,  10. 

SLAVERY, 

opposition  of  Jefferson  to,  381. 
abolition  of,  381-384. 
forbidden  in  western  territory,  385. 
history  of  Jefferson's  views  on,  387. 

SMALL,  WILLIAM, 

Jefferson's  instructor,  5. 

SMITH,  ROBERT, 

a  member  of  Jefferson's  cabinet,  86. 

SOLDIERS, 

punishment  of,  352. 

SOULS, 

care  of.  375. 
SOUTH  AMERICA, 

its  Americanism,  390. 

SOVEREIGNTY, 

of  courts  of  justice,  282. 
of  Congress,  391. 
of  the  people,  392. 

SPAIN, 

our  relations  with,  393. 

its  relations  to  its  colonies,  394,  395. 

our  enemy,  395. 

SPIRIT, 

of  the  law,  395. 

STATE, 

to  obey  confederation,  164. 

its  right  to  service,  381. 
STATE  AND  CHURCH, 

independent,  154. 
STATE  GOVERNMENT, 

the  best,  314,  395. 
STATES  GENERAL,  220,  221. 
STATE'S  RIGHTS,  395,  397,  398. 

STATES, 

proper  size  of,  397. 

STATUES, 

proper  size  of,  399. 


INDEX.  473 

[References  art  to  Pages.] 


STATUTE, 

for  religious  freedom,  358. 
SUBPOENAS, 

for  high  officials,  399. 
SUFFRAGE, 

universal,  190. 

qualifications  for,  401. 

right  of,  401. 
"SUMMARY  VIEW,' 

written  by  Jefferson,  11. 
SUPREME  COURT,  272-281,  401. 

danger  of,  402. 

T 

TAXATION, 

direct  to  be  left  to  the  States,  169. 

should  not  oppress  labor,  194. 

the  right  of  denied  to  England,  403. 

the  simplest  method  of,  403. 

direct  and  indirect,  404. 

progressive,  404. 

on  imports,  405. 

principles  of,  405. 

on  wines,  406. 
TALENT, 

supply  of,  403. 
TENURE, 

of  office,  406. 
THIRD  TERM, 

of  President,  346,  374. 
TITLE, 

to  land,  292. 
TITLES, 

unamerican,  407. 

their  influence,  407. 
TOBACCO, 

land  impoverished  by,  407. 
TOLERATION, 

act  of.  344. 

of  opinion,  333. 

principles  of,  408. 
TORIES, 

weakness  of,  332. 

their  designs,  371. 

described,  408. 


474  INDEX. 

[References  are  to 
TORIES  AND  WHIGS,  426. 
TOURS, 

Presidential,  346. 
TOWNSHIPS, 

their  excellence,  408. 

the  guarantee  of  free  government,  4101 

the  life  of  self-government,  411. 

division  of  counties  into,  411. 
TRADE, 

freedom  of,  159. 

reciprocity,  355. 
TRAVEL, 

effect  upon  Jefferson,  38. 

its  effect,  412. 
TREASON, 

observations  upon,  412. 
TREATIES, 

to  be  regulated  by  commerce,  160. 

can  be  acted  upon  by  the  House,  412. 

should  be  made  with  all  nations,  413. 
TRIAL, 

by  jury,  281. 
TRIPOLI, 

war  with,  102. 
TRUTH,  180,  413,  414. 
TYRANNY, 

hostility  to,  152. 

the  foe  of  education,  242. 

of  Legislatures,  295. 

of  foreign  Governments,  414. 

n 

UNIFORMITY, 

in  religion,  358,  414. 

UNION, 

for  external  matters,  160. 

strength  of,  247. 

of  colonies,  415. 

among  the  States,  416. 
UNITARIANISM, 

growth  of,  416. 
UNIVERSITY,  NATIONAL, 

proposed  to  Congress,  314. 
UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  124,  127,  417. 


INDEX.  475 

[References  are  to  Pages."} 


UTILITY, 

the  foundation  of  morality,  312. 

V 

VETO, 

power  of  Presidents,  146. 
VICE-CONSULS, 

relation  to  their  chiefs,  176. 
VICE-PRESIDENCY, 

Jefferson  satisfied  with,  418; 

a  congenial  office,  419. 
VICE-PRESIDENT, 

his  functions,  419. 
VIRGIL,  243. 
VIRGINIA, 

strong  for  independence,  257. 

deserts  monarchy,  305. 
VIRGINIA, 

university  of,  124,  127,  417,  418. 

w 

WALKING,  211,  242. 
WAR,  336,  419,  420,  421. 
WASHINGTON, 

City  of,  in  1800,  84. 
WASHINGTON,  GEORGE, 

with  Jefferson  in  the  Virginia  Legislature,  9. 

on  a  committee  with  Jefferson,  12. 

Jefferson  provides  statue  for,  37. 

commands  Jefferson's  services,  56. 

nominated  Lieutenant-General  of  all  armies,  71. 

reasons  for  accepting  a  second  term,  193. 

Jefferson's  loyalty  to,  350 

an  estimate  of,  421. 

his  republicanism,  421. 

his  good  luck,  422. 

his  political  principles,  423. 

his  loyalty  to  the  Constitution,  426. 
WAYLES, 

father-in-law  of  Jefferson,  10. 
WELFARE, 

clause,  the  general,  145,  267. 
WEST, 

the  reliance  upon,  436. 


INDEX. 

[References  are  to  Pages.] 

WESTERN  TERRITORY, 

slavery  forbidden  in,  385. 
WHEAT, 

standard  of  value,  433. 

cultivation  of,  407. 
WHIGS  AND  TORIES,  332,  426. 
WHIPPING, 

inflicted  upon  soldiers,  352. 
WHISKY, 

its  ruinous  effects,  426. 
WILKINSON,  GENERAL, 

suspected,  106. 

resists  Burr,  107. 

WILLIAM  AND  MARY  COLLEGE,  4. 
WOMEN, 

not  to  hold  office,  436. 
WOMEN, 

of  America  compared  with  those  of  Paris,  427. 
WYTHE,    GEORGE, 

preceptor  of  Jefferson,  5. 

assists  Jefferson,  25. 

X 

X  Y  Z  AFFAIR,  70. 


IN  the  preparation  of  this  book  I  have  constantly  felt  my  indebt 
edness  to  the  ten  superb  volumes  of  Mr.  Paul  Leicester  Ford's 
Writings  of  Jefferson,  published  by  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New 
York.     Without  that  work  no  comprehensive  study  of  Jefferson 
can  be  made,  and  in  common  with  all  lovers  of  history,  my  hearty 
thanks  are  due  to  the  editors  and  publishers  for  the  splendid  en 
terprise.  S.  E.  F. 


14  DAY  USE 

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